Gold, palladium regain ground after sliding to near 1-month lows

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An ingot of 99.99 percent pure gold is cast at the Krastsvetmet non-ferrous metals plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk

By Bharat Gautam

(Reuters) - Gold rose on Tuesday as the dollar edged lower, with palladium also rebounding after concerns over reduced demand due to COVID lockdowns in China drove prices to a near one-month low in the previous session.

Spot gold was up 0.3% at $1,903.97 per ounce, as of 0437 GMT, after hitting its lowest level since March 29 in the previous session. U.S. gold futures gained 0.4% at $1,903.70.

The dollar eased from a two-year high scaled in the previous session, making greenback-priced gold cheaper. [USD/]

However, benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields edged higher, limiting gains in zero-yield gold. [US/]

"Some tentative support has appeared in Asia as China eased foreign currency reserves for local banks and set a neutral USD/CNY fix to support the yuan," said OANDA senior analyst Jeffrey Halley, adding gold's stabilisation looked very fragile.

Meanwhile, Russia told the world not to underestimate the considerable risks of nuclear war that it said it wanted to reduce and warned that conventional Western weapons were legitimate targets in Ukraine.

Bullion is seen as a safe store of value during economic and political crises.

Spot silver gained 0.8% to $23.79 per ounce, platinum rose 1.1% to $930.87, and palladium advanced 2.8% to $2,203.25.

Palladium prices fell nearly 13% on Monday to their lowest since end-March as fears of further COVID-19 lockdowns in key consumer China reduced demand prospects for the metal, which is used in vehicle exhausts to curb emissions.

Like gold, the recovery in palladium looks fragile and an escalation of the COVID-19 situation in Beijing almost certainly sees a test of support at $2,025, Halley said.

Nornickel, the world's largest palladium producer, said on Monday its first-quarter palladium production fell year-on-year, but kept its previous output forecast for 2022 unchanged despite difficulties posed by the Western sanctions on Moscow.