On Monday (March 28), international gold prices fell more than 1%, the dollar strengthened and US 10-year Treasury yields held steady near multi-month highs, as investors' attention to potential Russian-Ukrainian peace talks further undermined gold's safe-haven attractiveness.
At 16:37 Beijing time, spot gold fell 1.48 per cent to $1928.98 per ounce; the main COMEX gold contract fell 1.33 per cent to $1928.2 per ounce; and the dollar index rose 0.43 per cent to 99.217.
The dollar index hit a three-week high of 99.312, making gold more expensive for holders of other currencies. Us 10-year Treasury yields have soared to nearly three-year highs as markets grapple with high inflation and the hawkish attitude of the Fed.
Michael Langford, director of AirGuide, a corporate consultancy, said: "if the US job creation data for March is around 500000 or more, I think gold is likely to fall sharply in the short term, as this will support the Fed to accelerate interest rate hikes."
Given that central bankers admit that inflation is not temporary after all, it is not surprising that interest rates need to rise. J.P.Morgan estimates that global inflation will reach 6.3 per cent this quarter, the highest level in 25 years.
Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine will be held in Turkey this week, and Ukrainian President Zelanski insisted on maintaining the country's territorial integrity after earlier hinting that he was ready to make a compromise.
Russia's central bank said on Friday that it would resume buying gold from banks and would buy it at a fixed price of 5000 roubles ($52) per gram between March 28 and June 30.
Russia warned the West on Friday that a bill to settle billions of dollars of natural gas exports to Europe in rubles would arrive in a few days. It was Moscow's strongest response to tough sanctions imposed by the West for its invasion of Ukraine.
