Precious metals take hit as investors eye the greenback

JOHANNESBURG – PRECIOUS metals, gold, platinum, and silver retreated yesterday as the greenback strengthened on higher US Treasury yields.

Platinum led the retreat, declining 2.21 percent to $1 181.50 an ounce and silver fell 1.86 percent lower at $24.85 per ounce.

The spot gold price was 0.64 percent lower at $1 732.93 an ounce compared with $1 737.99 an ounce on Friday while the rand gold price was also 0.83 percent lower at 812 306 per kilogram.

The US dollar jumped 0.26 percent to R14.58 to the rand. Data released on Friday showed that US producer prices in March had registered their highest annual growth in 9½ years, signalling the start of higher inflation as the economy reopens.

Trades chief analyst Carlo Alberto De Casa said the dollar was showing fractional gains against the eurozone currency, while the dollar index was also recovering and US yields were in the green as well. “These movements are similarly reflected on the gold price, which is showing a marginal loss … Only a clear surpass of this threshold could open space for further recoveries in the yellow metal.”