Gold prices fell on Friday, pressured by a surge in U.S. Treasury yields and a rebound in the dollar, but the metal’s jump to a two-week high in the previous session set it on track to record a small weekly gain.
Spot gold fell 0.5% to $1,728.63 U.S. per ounce early Friday morning after hitting its highest since March 1 in the previous session. U.S. gold futures were down 0.3% at $1,728.00 per ounce.
The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note on Thursday rose above 1.75% for the first time in 14 months after the Federal Reserve pledged to look past inflation and keep interest rates near 0% until at least 2024.
Higher yields lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
Switzerland in February sent gold to mainland China for the first time since September and shipments to India and Thailand rose to multi-year highs.
Palladium was little changed at $2,682.68 U.S., having risen over 7.3% to its highest since Feb. 28, 2020 on Thursday.
Silver fell 0.6% to $25.89 U.S. and platinum was down 0.7% at $1,198.19 U.S.