March 3 (Reuters) - Gold edged down on Wednesday, as firm
U.S. Treasury yields continued to pressure the non-yielding
bullion, although prices held above the 8-1/2-month trough hit
in the previous session.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= eased 0.2% at $1,734.16 per ounce by 0052
GMT, having dropped to their lowest since June 15 at $1,706.70
on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures GCv1 held steady at $1,734.10.
* Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields dipped for a fourth
straight day after jumping to a one-year high last week, but
held near 1.4% levels, making non-interest paying gold
unattractive to investors. US/
* After a sharp sell-off last week, U.S. Treasuries have
stabilized with bond market indicators and derivatives
positioning pointing to near-term calm, but an improving economy
could trigger another slide in their prices. * U.S. Federal Reserve officials, facing a potential bout of
inflation this spring in an economy turbocharged by vaccines and
government spending, on Tuesday said they will nevertheless keep
their easy money plans in place in hopes of speeding displaced
Americans back to work. * Investors now await developments in a $1.9 trillion U.S.
stimulus bill passed by the House of Representatives last week,
as the Senate begins debate over the legislation this week.
* Silver XAG= dipped 0.3% to $26.67 an ounce, while
palladium XPD= climbed 0.6% at $2,376.50. Platinum XPT= shed
0.3% to $1,200.50.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0700 UK Reserve Assets Total Feb
0850 France Markit Serv, Comp PMIs Feb
0855 Germany Markit Serv PMI Feb
0855 Germany Markit Comp Final PMI Feb
0900 EU Markit Serv, Comp Final PMIs Feb
1445 US Markit Serv, Comp Final PMIs Feb
1500 US ISM N-Mfg PMI Feb
1900 US Federal Reserve issues the Beige Book of
economic condition