Gold Prices Steady as Lower Treasury Yields Offset Dollar Strength

GOLD - SYDNEY. Gold prices steadied on Tuesday, after getting within a stone's throw of the key $2,000 per ounce level in the previous session, as lower U.S. Treasury yields offset pressure from two-year highs in the dollar.

Spot gold held its ground at $1,977.61 per ounce, as of 0013 GMT. U.S. gold futures eased 0.4% to $1,979.30.

On Monday, gold prices climbed to $1,998.10 per ounce - their highest in more than a month - as the Ukraine crisis and inflation concerns lifted demand for bullion, before giving up most of those gains after the dollar and U.S. 10-year Treasury yields firmed.

The dollar steadied near a two-year high hit in the previous session, as investors braced for multiple half a percentage-point rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

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U.S. inflation is "far too high," St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said on Monday as he repeated his case for increasing interest rates to 3.5% by the end of the year to slow what are now 40-year-high inflation readings.

While bullion is considered a safe store of value during times of political and economic crises, as well as a hedge against inflation, a firmer dollar makes greenback-priced gold less attractive for other currency holders.  

Yields on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note eased off their highest level since December 2018 reached on Monday, limiting losses in zero-yield gold.

Spot silver was steady at $25.84 per ounce, platinum gained 0.3% to $1,012.86, and palladium dropped 0.1% to $2,436.03.