Gold down

Bengaluru : Gold prices slipped on Wednesday as a surge in U.S. treasury yields and an ongoing rally in equities dented the precious metal´s safe-haven appeal.

Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,311.56 an ounce by 0234 GMT. It declined 0.6 percent on Tuesday, in its biggest one-day drop in a month.

U.S. gold futures were down 0.1 percent at $1,312.50 an ounce on Wednesday. Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields hit a 10-month high on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan tweaked its bond-buying programme.

Wall Street´s major indexes extend the New Year rally to record levels into a sixth day on Tuesday, but Asian shares slipped on Wednesday on profit-taking.

"We are wary about going long on gold at these levels. The spike in U.S. treasury yields is an obvious negative, as is the fact that the dollar is now quite oversold against a number of currencies," said INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir.