Gold eases as Russia-Ukraine talks hint at progress

[BENGALURU] Gold inched lower on Wednesday (Mar 30), hovering near a 1-month low hit in the previous session, as Russia-Ukraine peace talks pointing towards progress dimmed bullion's safe-haven demand, though a weaker dollar and a drop in yields limited losses.

Spot gold was down 0.2 per cent at US$1,916.30 per ounce, as of 12.29 am GMT. US gold futures were up 0.2 per cent at US$1,916.60.

The metal fell as much as 1.8 per cent on Tuesday to its lowest since Feb 28 at US$1,889.45.

Russia promised to scale down military operations around Kyiv and another city but the United States warned the threat was not over as Ukraine proposed adopting a neutral status in a sign of progress at face-to-face negotiations.

The dollar index slid to a more than 1-week low in the previous session, making gold less expensive for other currency holders.

US benchmark 10-year yields also slipped from near 3-year highs, and lower yields decrease the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, slipped 0.2 per cent to 1,091.44 tonnes on Tuesday.

Japan will ban shipments of gold to Russia in response to its aggression towards Ukraine, its Ministry of Finance said.

Spot silver shed 0.2 per cent at US$24.71 per ounce and platinum edged higher 0.1 per cent to US$983.95.

Palladium rose 0.4 per cent to US$2,157.72, having fallen to a more than 2-month low of US$2,032.97 in the last session.

The auto-catalyst metal has tumbled about 40 per cent since scaling an all-time peak on Mar 7 as supply concerns from Russia eased. REUTERS