Declining gold prices

Gold prices fell today, under pressure from rising US Treasury bond yields and the rise of the dollar after data indicated that the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) may slow the pace of reducing interest rates this year.

The price of gold in spot transactions fell 0.1 percent to $2,648.16 per ounce, at 0308 GMT. US gold futures fell 0.1 percent to $2,662.30.

“The dollar index rose on hopes that the Federal Reserve will pursue a less volatile monetary policy this year, so there is some weakness in gold prices overall,” said Kelvin Wong, chief market analyst at OANDA for the Asia-Pacific region.

The dollar rose and the benchmark yield on 10-year Treasury bonds reached the highest level in eight months after data yesterday, Tuesday, indicated the strength of the US economy.

The number of job openings in the United States increased in November to 8.098 million, exceeding expectations and higher than October’s figures of 7.839 million.

In terms of other precious metals, silver rose in spot transactions 0.3 percent to $30.11 per ounce, platinum fell 0.5 percent to $946.11, and palladium fell 0.2 percent to $923.87.