NEW YORK: Gold fell on Wednesday as an uptick in US Treasury yields weighed on the non-yielding bullion’s appeal, eclipsing support from a softer dollar.

Spot gold fell 0.5% to $1,736.02 per ounce by 2:20 p.m EDT (1820 GMT). US gold futures settled down 0.6% at $1,736.30.

The uptick in bond yields seems to be “adding some very light pressure to the (gold) market,” said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures. But gold’s pullback looks more technical in nature with the $1,750 level being both a technical and a psychological level of resistance in the short term, Meger added.

Bullion jumped as much as 0.9% on Tuesday after US consumer prices rose by the most in more than 8-1/2 years in March, kicking off what is expected to be a brief period of higher inflation.

While bullion is considered a hedge against inflation, higher yields challenge that status as they translate into higher opportunity cost of holding bullion.

“The second quarter is likely to present the greatest macro headwinds for gold given our expectations for the USD to firm further temporarily,” Standard Chartered analyst Suki Cooper said.

“But thereafter, we expect the USD to revert to its weakening trend, real yields to remain negative and an uptick in inflation expectations to reignite investor interest in gold,” Cooper added.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank will reduce its monthly bond purchases before it commits to an interest rate increase, clarifying the order of monetary policy changes that are still months if not years in the future.

Silver rose 0.2% to $25.38 per ounce and platinum rose 1.2% to $1,170.13. Palladium dipped 0.6% to $2,674.34.