CORRECTED-PRECIOUS-Gold gains in tug-of-war between lower yields and firm dollar

(Corrects palladium XPD= and platinum XPT= prices in graph
10)
* Dollar hits fresh four-month high
* Silver drops to over two-month low
* Palladium could rise to $3,000/oz this year- Commerzbank

By Nakul Iyer
March 25 (Reuters) - Gold gained on Thursday as lower U.S.
Treasury yields boosted the appeal of the non-yielding metal and
eclipsed pressure from a strengthening dollar.
Spot gold XAU= rose 0.3% to $1,739.60 per ounce by 10:22
A.M EDT (1422 GMT). U.S. gold futures GCv1 were up 0.3% at
$1,739.30 per ounce.
U.S. benchmark Treasury yields continued their dip,
translating into lower opportunity cost of holding bullion,
after scaling one-year highs last week . US/
"I don't think it (gold) has much more downside and traders
are looking for a bottom on the fact that short-term yields and
the rise in the dollar are not sustainable," said Bob
Haberkorn, senior market strategist, RJO Futures.
The dollar .DXY hit a four-month high versus rivals.
USD/
Also aiding gold, sentiment in wider financial markets
remained weak as investors grew wary following a new round of
coronavirus restrictions in the euro zone. MKTS/GLOB
"(But) The momentum (for gold) is on the bearish side, so
you're going to have to see prices rebound a little bit for the
bulls to gain some confidence that some kind of upward
sustainability can be achieved," said Kitco Metals senior
analyst Jim Wyckoff.
Gold's gains were kept in check by data showing the number
of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped
to a one-year low last week, a day after U.S. Treasury Secretary
Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell expressed
their confidence in the U.S. recovery. Silver XAG= rose 0.2% to $25.13 an ounce, having earlier
fallen to a more than two-month low of $24.39.
Palladium XPD= rose 0.4% to $2,646.31 and platinum XPT=
gained 0.4% to $1,172.04.
While there could be more platinum supply from South Africa
this year, rising auto demand will likely spur shortfalls in
coming years, Commerzbank said in a note.
Palladium will likely remain "severely undersupplied" this
year, with prices as high as $3,000 "conceivable" the bank
added, raising forecasts for both autocatalyst metals.