PRECIOUS-Gold rises as dollar, yields slip; U.S. economic data in focus

  • 4/15/2021
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* Dollar falls to four-week low * Gold still trapped in a range trade - analyst * Palladium, platinum up more than 1% (Recasts, adds comment, updates prices) By Diptendu Lahiri April 15 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose on Thursday boosted by a weaker dollar and a pullback in U.S. bond yields, while investors awaited U.S. weekly jobless claims and March retail sales data for further clarity on recovery in the world"s largest economy. Spot gold was up 0.5% at $1,744.60 per ounce by 0807 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.6% to $1,745.80 per ounce. "A weaker dollar after the Fed speech and the central bank"s willingness to tolerate more inflation is keeping gold supported," said Yingtao Jin, an analyst at StoneX Group. The dollar slipped to a four-week low against its rivals, making gold less expensive for other currency holders. Meanwhile, benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields held near a three-week low. Lower bond yields reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-interest bearing gold. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday the central bank would cut its monthly bond purchases before committing to an interest rate hike, clarifying the sequence of monetary policy adjustments are still months if not years in the future. "Gold is still trapped in a range trade, until we get above $1,765 per ounce the range trade holds," said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at financial services firm Axi. Investors now await the release of U.S. weekly jobless claims and March retail sales data due later in the day for further clues on the recovery in the world"s largest economy. "Although gold has lost much of its appeal for investors in 2021 compared to 2020 and the technical picture has deteriorated in favour of bears rather than gold bulls, deep corrections of prices are still viewed as buying opportunities," Avtar Sandu, senior commodities manager at Phillip Futures, said in a note. Among other precious metals, silver gained 0.2% to $25.47 and palladium was up 1.7% at $2,721.96. Platinum rose 1.1% to $1,182.97. (Reporting by Diptendu Lahiri and Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Shailesh Kuber)

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