Gold rises on softer dollar, but set for worst quarter in over 4 years

Gold gained over 1pc on Wednesday, helped by the dollar's pullback, but elevated U.S. bond yields still put the metal on course for its biggest quarterly decline in more than four years.

Spot gold rose 1.5pc to $1,710.45 per ounce by 12:47 p.m EDT (1647 GMT), after touching its lowest since March 8 at $1,677.61. U.S. gold futures were up 1.5pc at $1,711.60.

Gold is down over 9pc for the quarter and is on track for its worst quarterly performance since end-December 2016.

"As we've seen bond yields stabilize and the dollar pull back off its recent highs, we have seen a little move off the lows in the gold market," said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.

The dollar edged off a near five-month peak.

U.S. President Joe Biden's "very large structural stimulus plan" has contributed to concerns over inflation and should support gold markets, Meger said.

"The market is watching to see whether or not the $1,680 support level is going to hold," said Daniel Ghali, TD Securities commodity strategist.

Bullion is seen as a hedge against inflation, but rising Treasury yields have challenged that status as they translate into a higher opportunity cost to hold bullion.

Among other precious metals, platinum gained 2.7pc to $1,186.15 an ounce and palladium climbed 1.2pc to $2,620.72, en route to its best month since February 2020.

Russia's Nornickel,a major platinum and palladium producer, said on Monday it had stopped water flowing into its two major mines in the Siberian Arctic.

The Arctic mine closures have drastically reduced platinum and palladium group metal production and could lead to an even tighter market than previously anticipated, Ghali said.

Silver rose 1.6pc to $24.41, but was down over 8pc for the month.