NEW DELHI: Gold prices dropped on Monday following a rise in US Treasury yields on the back of rate hike expectations by the US Fed later this week.

Higher hopes of truce between Russia and Ukraine, pushed the appetite for riskier assets higher, which further dented bullion’s appeal.

Gold futures on MCX were trading lower by 0.21 per cent or Rs 111 at Rs 52,767 per 10 grams. Silver futures were trading down by 0.45 per cent or Rs 315 at Rs 70,055 per kg.

The US Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet on March 15 and 16 this week. Gold is highly sensitive to rising US interest rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

In the spot market, the highest purity gold was sold at Rs 52,462 per 10 grams while silver was priced at Rs 69,713 per kg on Friday, according to the Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association.

The spot prices of gold have jumped more than 700 per 10 grams in the last one week, whereas Silver has risen about Rs 800 per kg in the last four trading sessions.

Trading strategy
“We expect gold prices to trade sideways to down for the day with COMEX Spot gold support at $1,960 and resistance at $1,790 per ounce. MCX Gold April support lies at Rs 52,200 and resistance at Rs 53,200 per 10 gram,” said Tapan Patel, Senior Analyst (Commodities), HDFC Securities.

Global markets
Spot gold fell 0.7 per cent to $1,971.77 per ounce by 0303 GMT. US gold futures also fell 0.5 per cent to $1,975.70.

Spot silver shed 0.9 per cent to $25.58 per ounce, while platinum slipped 1.9 per cent to $1,059.43. Palladium dipped 3.9 per cent to $2,705.18 per ounce. The metal hit a record high last week.