Gold steadies after biggest tumble since 2016

By Peter Hobson

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold prices steadied on Wednesday after falling to their lowest since December as the dollar rallied to 2018 highs and U.S. bond yields sat near multi-year peaks.

The metal had suffered its biggest single-day loss since November 2016 when it fell 1.7 percent on Tuesday after strong U.S. retail sales data sent the dollar and yields soaring.

Gold's declines were accelerated by technical selling as it crashed below its 200-day moving average and the psychologically significant $1,300-an-ounce mark.

Spot gold was flat at $1,289.86 an ounce by 1417 GMT, having gone as low as $1,286.20, its weakest since Dec. 27.

U.S. gold futures for June delivery were 0.1 percent down at $1,289.20.

"Rising U.S. bond yields and a stronger dollar were factors behind gold's decline below the $1,300 level, said National Australia Bank economist John Sharma.

"The slight pick-up suggests there might have been some opportunistic buying on the part of investors."

A stronger dollar hurts gold by making it more expensive for holders of other currencies, while higher bond yields make non-yielding bullion less attractive to investors.

The strong U.S. retail data also suggested that the Federal Reserve will be confident about raising U.S. interest rates. That is bad for gold because higher rates push up bond yields and tend to boost the dollar.

Gold is likely to fall to $1,275 by the end of June and $1,250 by the end of the year as U.S. yields and the dollar strengthen, said ABN AMRO analyst Georgette Boele. That is below the $1,310-$1,360 range gold has inhabited since January.

"It held up for so long on such a high level. Now you are below $1,300 and the 200-day moving average; people who hold long positions are a little bit nervous," she said.

Technical and momentum indicators suggested that gold could fall to about $1,278, ScotiaMocatta analysts said. Fibonacci support for the metal was at $1,287, they added.

Gold is traditionally used as a safe place to park assets during times of uncertainty, but investors largely disregarded news that North Korea could reconsider attending a planned summit between Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump next month.

"There are lot of geopolitical risks, but people are just used to it. Therefore it has not become a big driver for gold," said Argonaut Securities analyst Helen Lau.

In other precious metals, silver was up 0.4 percent at $16.30 an ounce after falling 1.6 percent on Tuesday.

Platinum eased by 0.2 percent to $891.40 and palladium gained 0.3 percent to $984.97.

(Additional reporting by Apeksha Nair and Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing by Jane Merriman and David Goodman)