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Wednesday April 24, 2024

Gold rises

By our correspondents
June 23, 2017

Bengaluru

Gold prices rose for a second straight day on Thursday, supported by an easing dollar and weakness in U.S. Treasury yields.

The U.S. Treasury yield curve flattened to almost 10-year lows on Wednesday as investors evaluated the impact of hawkish Federal Reserve policy on the economy even as inflation measures are deteriorating.

Gold is highly sensitive to rising rates and yields, which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced.

Spot gold rose 0.5 percent to $1,252.30 per ounce at 0423 GMT. It rose 0.3 percent in the previous session, its largest intra-day percentage change since June 6. U.S. gold futures for August delivery rose 0.6 percent to $1,253.20 per ounce.

"The primary driver appears to be the flattening of the longer-dated U.S. Treasury curve," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.