PRECIOUS-Gold slides more than 1% to 3-week low as U.S. yields climb

(Updates prices)
* U.S. Treasury yields hit 14-month high
* Dollar index jumps to four-month peak
* Palladium inches up after Monday's 5.5% decline
* Crucial support for gold at $1,670/oz -analyst

By Asha Sistla
March 30 (Reuters) - Gold prices slid more than 1% on
Tuesday as the U.S. dollar rose on the back of higher Treasury
yields and as expectations that speedy vaccinations would
improve the economic outlook curbed demand for safe-haven
bullion.
Spot gold XAU= slipped 1.4% to $1,687.76 per ounce by 1153
GMT. Earlier in the session, bullion fell by as much as 1.5% to
its lowest since March 9 at $1,685.80. U.S. gold futures GCv1
fell 1.5% to $1,688.70 per ounce.
"Gold is under pressure as investors are expecting a strong
economic rebound in the U.S. because of the pace of vaccinations
there and the stimulus driving investor sentiment and bond
yields in the U.S. to new highs again for the year," Fawad
Razaqzada, market analyst with ThinkMarkets, said.
The dollar index .DXY jumped to a more than four-month
high as benchmark U.S. Treasury yields rose to a 14-month peak
on expectations of stronger growth and inflation ahead of U.S.
President Joe Biden's multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure
spending plan. US/ USD/
Gold is seen as a hedge against rising inflation, but firmer
Treasury yields, which translate into a higher opportunity cost
for holding bullion, have challenged that status.
Investors have been piling more money into riskier equity
markets than gold, Razaqzada added.
Global stock markets rose as investors focused on the global
COVID-19 vaccination programme. MKTS/GLOB
"From a technical point of view, the (gold) price is playing
with the key level of $1,700. A crucial support is placed at
$1,670, a recent low, while the overall scenario for gold
remains moderately bearish," ActivTrades chief analyst Carlo
Alberto De Casa said in a note.
Elsewhere, silver XAG= fell 1.7% to $24.24 an ounce and
platinum XPT= was down 0.8% at $1,166.19.
Palladium XPD= gained 0.4% to $2,537.98, having slid 5.5%
in the previous session.