Pressured By A Surging USD

Gold is up 0.3% in the Asia-Pac session, after closing 0.6% lower on Tuesday. USD strength proved to be a headwind for the precious metal, building on Monday's drop.

• On Tuesday, the US dollar experienced its most significant surge in almost five months, driven by apprehensions stemming from lacklustre Chinese economic data and uncertainties surrounding the US banking sector's condition.
• Moody's Investors Service's decision to downgrade 10 smaller and mid-sized American banks, along with the potential for similar actions on a few major institutions. That helped spur strength in the greenback, which typically moves in the opposite direction to bullion.
• The US tsy 10-year yield declined 7bp to around 4.02%. While lower yields would tend to support bullion, it is important to note that the 10-year yield remains some 20bp higher than month-ago levels.
• US CPI figures out on Thursday will be closely monitored.