Gold's woes mount as dollar, yields rally on Fed taper bets

Gold fell on Tuesday, as a rallying dollar and yields driven by bets the Federal Reserve could cut back on its economic support continued to weigh on the precious metal after the previous session's sell-off.

Spot gold was down 0.4% at $1,722.83 per ounce by 9:52 a.m. EDT (1352 GMT), while US gold futures edged 0.2% lower to $1,723.10.

The precious metal slid as much as 4.4% on Monday, as expectations the Fed could begin tempering its economic support sooner than previously anticipated were solidified by a strong US jobs report on Friday.

A US interest rate increase could reduce the appeal of holding non-yielding gold.

Mali's gold exports ease 0.3% in 2020

The dollar and benchmark treasury yields, also strengthened on the back of those bets, putting further pressure on the metal which pays no interest. A firmer dollar also makes gold more expensive for holders in other currencies.

"Gold will be under pressure in the next couple of months," said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities, noting that a continued uptick in real yields along with expectations of Fed tapering would weigh on gold.

"The market's expectation is that economic data will continue to recover in a very firm clip reminiscent of the employment data, but Delta variant concerns could certainly prevent the Fed from wanting to taper sooner rather than later."

Delta variant coronavirus cases in several Asian countries and the United States have continued to surge, threatening the economic outlook.

Oil rises as market shrugs off virus impact

Investors are also looking to Wednesday's US consumer inflation data "against a backdrop of concern that the recent rise in inflationary pressures may well be more persistent, than transitory," CMC Markets UK's chief market analyst Michael Hewson said.

Silver fell 0.6% to $23.30 an ounce, after falling to an eight-month low on Monday.

Platinum rose 0.4% to $984.49, and palladium gained 0.8% to $2,621.66.