Gold slips as rise in US bond yields dent demand

GOLD inched lower on Thursday (Jun 9), with prices restrained by rising Treasury yields ahead of key US jobs and inflation data this week.

Spot gold was down 0.1 per cent at US$1,852.21 per ounce, as of 12.52 am GMT, while US gold futures also eased 0.1 per cent to US$1,853.90.

Benchmark US 10-year Treasury yields firmed on Thursday, lowering the appeal of zero-yield gold.

SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.22 per cent to 1,065.39 tonnes on Wednesday from 1,063.06 tonnes on Tuesday.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday the Biden administration was looking to "reconfigure" tariffs on Chinese imports but warned that such cuts would not be a "panacea" for easing high inflation.

The war in Ukraine has made the growth outlook far bleaker even though the global economy should avoid a bout of 1970s-style stagflation, the OECD said on Wednesday, slashing its growth forecasts and jacking up its inflation estimates.

Bullion is often seen as a hedge against inflation.

US wholesale inventories increased slightly more than initially thought in April, suggesting that inventory investment could provide a lift to economic growth this quarter.

The Reserve Bank of India's key interest rate was raised by 50 basis points on Wednesday as widely expected, the second hike in as many months, in a bid to cool persistently high inflation in Asia's third-largest economy.

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Spot silver was flat at US$22.04 per ounce, while platinum fell 0.2 per cent to US$1,003.64, and palladium rose 0.4 per cent to US$1,950.12. REUTERS