By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was down on Monday morning in Asia, with the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields firming as the U.S. Federal Reserve maintains its hawkish stance. However, concerns that Russia could launch fresh attacks in eastern Ukraine capped the safe-haven yellow metal's losses.
Gold futures edged down 0.15% to $1,671.75 by 1:08 AM ET (5:08 AM GMT), after touching a more than one-week high of $1,949.32 earlier in the session. The dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, edged up on Monday. The greenback steadied after topping the 100-mark for the first time in nearly two years on Friday.
The 10-year benchmark U.S. yield hit 2.73% on Friday, its highest since March 2019. However, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said she is confident that the U.S. will avoid a recession even amid tighter policy, although the inflation rate will likely remain at more than 2% into 2023.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will hand down their policy decisions on Wednesday, with the European Central Bank and the Bank of Korea following a day later.
In the latest move since its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russia pounded targets in eastern Ukraine with missiles and artillery on Sunday.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer also plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin later in the day.
Discounts on physical gold in India widened, with scrap supplies increasing as improvement in demand remained slight. Purchases in China, a top consumer, steadied despite the country's COVID-19 lockdowns as investors sought the safe-haven asset.
In other precious metals, silver was flat at $24.75 per ounce while platinum rose 0.7%. Palladium jumped 2.8%, after hitting a more than two-week high earlier in the session. It climbed 8.6% on Friday when newly refined Russian platinum and palladium were suspended from trading in London, the metals’ biggest trade hub.