PRECIOUS-Gold prices slump on rising yields while platinum retreats

* There are signs of speculative excess in platinum -analyst
* Benchmark U.S. yields at highest since February 2020
* Minutes of U.S. Fed's January meeting due on Wednesday

(Updates prices)
By K. Sathya Narayanan
Feb 16 - Gold prices fell as much as 1.7% on Tuesday to
their lowest in more than a week on stronger U.S. Treasury
yields while platinum eased in choppy trading after a rally that
took it to a 6-1/2 year high.
Spot gold XAU= fell 1.2% to $1,796.50 an ounce by 2 p.m.
EST (1900 GMT), having touched its lowest since Feb. 4.
U.S. gold futures GCv1 settled down 1.3% to $1,799.00.
"Gold is shifting away from being an inflation hedge asset,
as has been the case for most of 2020, into a safe-haven asset
once again," said TD Securities commodity strategist Daniel
Ghali, pointing to rising Treasury yields.
Bullion is considered a hedge against inflation expected
from massive economic stimulus that has also pushed U.S. 10-year
Treasury yields US10YT=RR higher, increasing the opportunity
cost of non-yielding gold. US/
Also weighing on gold, U.S. stock indexes hit all-time highs
on optimism surrounding a $1.9 trillion U.S. coronavirus relief
package. .N
Meanwhile, platinum XPT= dropped 2.9% to $1,265.36 an
ounce after touching its highest since September 2014.
TD Securities' Ghali said the drop was attributable to
profit-taking after a rally driven by speculation over the
potential for platinum demand to rise as a result of greener
technologies.
The metal, which is used in automobile catalytic converters
to limit exhaust emissions, has rallied about 20% this year on
hopes that a recovery in the car market and a push for cleaner
energy would spur demand.
"While the upswing in the platinum price was fundamentally
justified at first, given its previous undervaluation and the
expectation of a renewed supply deficit, we now see signs of
speculative excess," Commerzbank analysts said in a note.
On the technical front, "the 14-day relative strength index
(of platinum) is now in overbought territory, which should sound
alarm bells", they added.
Spot silver XAG= fell 1.1% to $27.29 an ounce, while
palladium XPD= rose 0.1% to $2,391.33 after peaking at a
one-month high of $2,424.26.