PRECIOUS-Gold falls as yields tick up, dollar firms

(Adds analyst comments, updates prices)
* Dollar hits fresh four-month high
* Silver drops to over two-month low
* Palladium could rise to $3,000/oz this year -Commerzbank

By Nakul Iyer
March 25 (Reuters) - Gold fell on Thursday as U.S. Treasury
yields nudged up and the dollar hit a four-month high, denting
the non-yielding metal's appeal.
Spot gold XAU= fell 0.4% to $1,727.01 per ounce by 2:08
p.m. EDT (1808 GMT). U.S. gold futures GCv1 settled down 0.5%
at $1,725.10.
U.S. benchmark Treasury yields were slightly up, increasing
the opportunity cost of holding bullion. US/
The dollar index .DXY gained 0.4%, having hit its highest
level since Nov. 13 at 91.92 earlier in the session, making gold
more expensive for other currency holders. USD/
"You're seeing a big differential in government bond rates
between the U.S. and other European countries and that is
causing increased flows into the greenback and that is weighing
on precious metals," said Kitco Metals senior analyst Jim
Wyckoff.
"The momentum (for gold) is on the bearish side, so you're
going to have to see prices rebound a little bit for the bulls
to gain some confidence that some kind of upward sustainability
can be achieved."
Gold's losses came despite sentiment in wider financial
markets being weakened by a new round of coronavirus
restrictions in the euro zone. MKTS/GLOB
Silver XAG= fell 0.3% to $25.01 an ounce, having earlier
fallen to a more than two-month low of $24.39.
Silver should find support around $24-$25 and then rise
modestly over the course of April following a likely move up in
gold and on investor hopes for stronger industrial fabrication
demand metal, said Jeffrey Christian, managing partner of CPM
Group.
Palladium XPD= fell 0.8% to $2,612.48 and platinum XPT=
slipped 1.4% to $1,151.00.
While there could be more platinum supply from South Africa
this year, rising auto demand will likely spur shortfalls in
coming years, Commerzbank said in a note.
Palladium will likely remain "severely undersupplied" this
year, with prices as high as $3,000 "conceivable" the bank
added, raising forecasts for both autocatalyst metals.