Gold slips as dollar, Treasury yields gain
Gold fell slightly on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields jumped, with investors awaiting comments from a host of Federal Reserve speakers this week for more clarity on the central bank's interest rate trajectory.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was down 0.2% at $2,050.35 per ounce, as of 0201 GMT.
* U.S. gold futures rose 0.1% to $2,054.10.
* The dollar index leapt to a 10-day high, making bullion less attractive for other currency holders, while yields on benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury notes rose to near 4% levels.
* At the end of its Jan. 30-31 meeting, the Fed is expected to hold its policy rate steady.
* Traders are betting on six rate cuts of 25 basis points each (bps) this year, with about a three-in-four chance that the first one could come as soon as March, according to LSEG's interest rate probability app, IRPR.
* Lower interest rates increase non-yielding bullion's appeal.
* A host of Fed officials are due to speak this week, with Fed Governor Christopher Waller scheduled to deliver a speech on the economic outlook before the Brookings Institution at 1600 GMT.
* Elsewhere, European Central Bank officials pushed back against market expectations for rapid rate cuts this year.
* Japan's wholesale inflation was flat in December from a year earlier, slowing for the 12th consecutive month, underscoring the central bank's view that cost-push pressure from rising raw material prices will steadily dissipate.
* Yemen's Houthi movement will expand its targets in the Red Sea region to include U.S. ships, an official from the Iran-allied group said on Monday, as it vowed to keep up attacks after U.S. and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.
* Spot silver fell 0.2% to $23.15 per ounce, platinum declined
