By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was down on Tuesday morning in Asia, falling to its lowest in more than a week. U.S. Treasury yields surged ahead of a Federal Reserve’s policy decision and hopes for progress in talks between Ukraine and Russia further dampened the safe-haven yellow metal's appeal.
Gold futures fell 1.01% to $1,940.95 by 12:57 PM ET (4:57 AM GMT) after hitting its lowest level since March 4 at $1,940 earlier in the session.
U.S. Treasury yields soared to two-and-a-half-year highs on Monday, with investors awaiting the Fed’s policy decision, which will be handed down on Wednesday. The central bank is expected to hike interest rates for the first time in three years.
The Bank of England will hand down its own policy decision on Thursday. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel, Governing Council member Ignazio Visco, and Chief Economist Philip Lane speaking at a conference on the same day. The Bank of Japan will hand down its policy decision on Friday.
The Reserve Bank of Australia released the minutes from its last meeting, while the Bank of Korea released the minutes from its Financial Stability Board meeting, earlier in the day. In a surprise move, the People's Bank of China kept the one-year medium-term lending facility unchanged at 2.85%.
Russia and Ukraine ended a fourth round of talks on Monday with little progress made towards ending a conflict that began with the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. The talks are scheduled to resume on Tuesday.
In other precious metals, palladium fell 1% to $2,363.06 per ounce, dropping more than 15% during the previous session as supply fears eased. Russian mining giant Nornickel's biggest shareholder, Vladimir Potanin, told Russian RBC TV on Saturday that the company had managed to secure alternative routes for its palladium deliveries. However, supply chain snafus are expected to continue.
Russian refiners will be allowed to resume selling platinum and palladium in London, the biggest precious metals trading center globally, a market authority said during the previous week. Palladium hit a record high of $3,440.76 during the previous week, thanks to concerns about supply disruptions from top producer Russia.
Silver fell 0.4% and platinum inched down 0.1%.