Gold edges down on firmer dollar, higher bond yields

(Reuters) - Gold slipped on Tuesday, extending losses into a second session, as the dollar strengthened against a basket of currencies and U.S. bond yields rose.

FUNDAMENTALS

Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,338.40 per ounce at 0051 GMT. It fell 0.7 percent on Monday.

U.S. gold futures for February delivery fell 0.2 percent to $1,337.60 per ounce.

Gold prices have risen nearly 3 percent so far this month, largely due to weakness in the dollar. The greenback posted its sixth straight weekly fall last week, hitting a three-year low on Friday. A rise in the currency sent the yellow metal lower on Monday.

 

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.1 percent to 89.406.

U.S. Treasury yields surged to more than three-year highs on Monday after comments from a European Central Bank official added to expectations that central banks globally will reduce stimulus as the economic outlook improves.

Rising bond yields helped underpin the greenback ahead of a week packed with U.S. data. The dollar remains on track for its biggest monthly decline since March 2016, however.

Traders now await U.S. employment data and the outcome of a two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting that begins on Tuesday, for any indications of interest rate hikes.

Asian stocks retreated from record peaks on Tuesday after a selloff in Apple shares knocked Wall Street.

Sovereign wealth funds have increased their exposure to alternative assets such as private equity, property, commodities and infrastructure to almost a quarter of their overall assets, a report from PWC said on Tuesday.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust GLD, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.17 percent to 846.67 tonnes on Monday from 848.14 tonnes on Friday.

Newcrest Mining Ltd's second-quarter gold production fell 0.3 percent from a year ago, but rose 17.2 percent over the prior quarter, driven by increased production at Cadia, Lihir, Bonikro and Telfer.

(Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)