Gold eases as Russia-Ukraine talks hint at progress

March 30: Gold inched lower on Wednesday, hovering near a one-month low hit in the previous session, as Russia-Ukraine peace talks pointing towards progress dimmed bullion’s safe-haven demand, though a weaker dollar and a drop in yields limited losses.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was down 0.2% at $1,916.30 per ounce, as of 0029 GMT. U.S. gold futures were up 0.2% at $1,916.60.

* The metal fell as much as 1.8% on Tuesday to its lowest since Feb. 28 at $1,889.45.

* Russia promised to scale down military operations around Kyiv and another city but the United States warned the threat was not over as Ukraine proposed adopting a neutral status in a sign of progress at face-to-face negotiations.

* The dollar index slid to a more than one-week low in the previous session, making gold less expensive for other currency holders.

* U.S. benchmark 10-year yields also slipped from near three-year highs, and lower yields decrease the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

* Holdings of the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, slipped 0.2% to 1,091.44 tonnes on Tuesday.

* Japan will ban shipments of gold to Russia in response to its aggression towards Ukraine, its Ministry of Finance said.

* Spot silver shed 0.2% at $24.71 per ounce and platinum edged higher 0.1% to $983.95.

* Palladium rose 0.4% to $2,157.72, having fallen to a more than two-month low of $2,032.97 in the last session.

* The auto-catalyst metal has tumbled about 40% since scaling an all-time peak on March 7 as supply concerns from Russia eased.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0900 EU Consumer Confid. Final March 1200 Germany HICP Prelim YY March 1200 Germany CPI Prelim YY March 1230 US GDP Final Q4