FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was up around 0.1% at $1,854.91 an ounce, 0055 GMT. US gold futures were down 0.2% at $1,854.10.
* Benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields extended their decline on Tuesday after hitting a 3.5-year high in the previous session, supporting zero-yield gold prices. [US/]
* The dollar held near a new 20-year high hit on Monday, on a sense of risk loss stemming in part from concerns about the ability of the US Federal Reserve to fight off high inflation, which has reinforces the attractiveness of the greenback as a safe haven. [USD/]
* This made the price of the greenback and rival safe havens less attractive to holders of other currencies, and continued to dampen gold prices after pushing them down 1% in the previous session.
* Atlanta Federal Reserve Chairman Raphael Bostic said on Monday he expects the U.S. central bank to make two or three more interest rate hikes of half a percentage point, but that she won’t need to use anything bigger, citing some hopeful signs on inflation.
* While gold is considered a safe store of value in times of political and economic crisis, it is highly sensitive to rising US short-term interest rates and bond yields, which increases the opportunity cost of gold. holding of bullion.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Russians to fight back in a defiant VE Day speech on Monday, but said nothing about escalation plans in Ukraine, despite Western warnings that he could use his speech in Red Square to order a national mobilization.
* Spot silver slid 0.1% to $21.77 an ounce, platinum was down 0.5% to $951.10, while palladium gained 0.3% to $2,102.74 .
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0130 Australia Retail Q1
0900 Germany ZEW Economic Sentiment May
0900 Germany ZEW Current Conditions May