By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was down on Thursday morning in Asia, with rebounding U.S. Treasury yields countering safe-haven demand from the ongoing war in Ukraine and its potential impact on the global economy.
Gold futures edged down 0.13% to $1,953 by 1:08 AM ET (5:08 AM GMT). The dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, inched up on Thursday.
Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields were back on an upward trend after falling from three-year highs on Wednesday. U.S. bond yields have been climbing over expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will aggressively hike interest rates.
Investors now await comments from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, who will speak at an International Monetary Fund event later in the day. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will speak a day later.
"As the critical level of $2,000 wasn't broken, people have probably decided to take profits... and move funds out to equities or even short-term treasury bills," GoldSilver Central managing director Brian Lan told Reuters.
Gold would look to consolidate in the near term and is currently doing so at around $1,940-$1,960 per ounce, Lan added.
The yellow metal came close to the $2,000 mark earlier in the week, with concerns around the war in Ukraine precipitated by the Russian invasion of Feb. 24 and rising inflationary pressures giving the safe-haven asset a boost.
"Geopolitical risk and inflation pressure are currently the two primary drivers for the gold market. An aggressive Fed rate hike of 75 bps could be a short-term price damper, while elevated inflation due to supply shocks could mitigate the negative impact," ANZ Research analysts said in a note.
In other precious metals, silver was down 0.4% and palladium edged down 0.2%, while platinum was flat at $986.86.