Gold prices near 14-week lows as dollar rises, Fed chief hardens stance

By Bharat Gautam

(Reuters) - Gold prices on Wednesday steadied near their lowest levels since late January pressured by a recovering dollar and an aggressive inflation stance from the U.S. Federal Reserve chief.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,815.39 per ounce, by 0831 GMT. U.S. gold futures slipped 0.2% to $1,814.70.

Gold has been consolidating since the end of last week but the overall direction is down, towards about $1,750, said Ilya Spivak, a currency strategist at DailyFX. "The question is when do we find fresh momentum to take us there?" Spivak said.

The dollar gained after a three-session slide, reducing the appeal of gold for investors holding other currencies.

"Gold's very focused on rates and the outlook for monetary policy, especially in the U.S.," Spivak said, adding the dollar was not done rallying.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday pledged the U.S. central bank would ratchet interest rates as high as needed to kill a surge in inflation that he said threatened the foundation of the economy.

Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields eased after a sharp rise in the previous session, buoying demand for zero-yield gold and limiting losses.

The Fed has raised its benchmark policy rate by three-quarters of a percentage point this year, and is on track to increase it again in half-percentage-point increments at its next two meetings in June and July.

Although seen as an inflation hedge, bullion is sensitive to rising U.S. short-term interest rates and bond yields, which increase the opportunity cost of holding it.

Reflecting investor sentiment, SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.4% to 1,049.21 tonnes on Tuesday from 1,053.28 tonnes on Monday - the ninth straight daily drop.

Spot silver was flat at $21.61 per ounce, while platinum gained 1% to $960.09, and palladium climbed 2.8% to $2,110.58.

(Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)