Heading For The Worst Week In Six

Gold is +0.1% in the Asia-Pac session, after closing little changed at 1934.06 on Thursday. The day low was $1929.65. The precious metal experienced conflicting influences, with a softer USD index providing support, while a significant bear steepening in the Treasury curve posed challenges.

• The rise in longer-term global bond yields was the significant development observed on Thursday. Yields for the 10-year US Treasury benchmark and beyond were 10-12bp higher. The 10-year finished at 4.17%, the highest level since Nov’22. The US Treasury yield curve steepened for the eighth straight day. 10-year EGBs also rose around 10bp. JGB futures were slightly cheaper after 10-year JGBs were pressured on Thursday, taking its yield to 0.653%.
• Bullion is on track for its worst week in six, primarily due to the surge in US bond yields, which came in response to signs of unexpected economic strength in the nation and concerns about its widening budget deficit.
• According to the MNI technicals team, support remains at $1924.5 (Jul 11 low) after which lies $1902.8 (Jul 6 low).