Gold dips as dollar firms

Gold fell on Tuesday in Asian trade due to the dollar’s surge and reinstated coronavirus-related lockdowns across Europe.

Gold futures dipped 0.22% at $1,734.30 as the dollar firmed on Tuesday. The dollar’s bounce back from a tumble from four-month highs during the previous session came as the U.S. Treasury yields fell.

Another factor in the yellow metal’s fall was the fresh lockdown in Europe as it hit the third wave of coronavirus infections. Paris hit its month-long lockdown last week while Germany extended its lockdown until April 18.

Meanwhile, the ECB raised bond purchases by almost half last week. The move is seen as the central bank’s effort to curb bond yields. The ECB pledged to improve its stimulus efforts to reduce borrowing costs and encourage investors.

In other precious metals, palladium added 0.4%. On the losing side were silver with a 0.6% fall and platinum with b 0.3% decline.