Gold steady as rising bond yields counter Omicron worries

Gold prices held steady on Monday as higher U.S. Treasury yields offset safe-haven buying sentiment due to an Omicron-driven surge in COVID-19 infections globally.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold remained mostly unchanged at $1,830.09 per ounce by 0058 GMT, after hitting a more than one-month high of $1,831.49 during the session.

* U.S. gold futures were up 0.1% to $1,830.30.

* Benchmark 10-year Treasuries ended 2021 with the largest yield increase since 2013. [US/]

* Higher yields raise the opportunity cost of holding non-interest paying gold.

* Over 4,000 flights were cancelled around the world on Sunday, more than half of them U.S. flights, adding to the toll of holiday week travel disruptions due to adverse weather and the surge in COVID-19 cases.

* Worldwide infections hit a record high over the past seven-day period, with an average of just over a million cases detected a day between Dec. 24 and 30, according to Reuters data.

* Wall Street closed near record highs in light trading last Friday, the last trading day of 2021, marking the second year of recovery from the pandemic. [.N]

* Gold discounts in India widened to the highest level in five months in the last week of 2021 as consumers in major Asian countries held back purchases into the year-end holidays amid new virus-related restrictions. [GOL/AS]

* Spot silver shed 0.2% to $23.23 an ounce,

gained 0.8% to $970.27, and palladium rose 0.6% to $1,903.39.