By 
After a brief reprieve at the end of last week, gold futures were back to trading at two-year lows, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to its highest level in more than a decade.
Price action
Gold futures
GCZ22,
-0.26%
for December delivery were off $9.10, or 0.5%, to $1,674.40 per ounce, on track for the lowest most-active contract finish since April 2020, FactSet data show.
December silver
SIZ22,
+0.07%
tacked on 4.4 cents, or 0.2%, to $19.425 per ounce.
December palladium
PAZ22,
+5.41%
advanced $18.80, or 0.9%, to $2,131.50 per ounce, while platinum for October delivery
PLV22,
+2.21%
advanced $9.30, or 1%, to $910.30 per ounce.
Copper futures
HGZ22,
-0.17%
for December were off 1.6 cents, or 0.5%, to $3.50 per pound.
What’s driving markets
Monday looked to be a quiet session with no major economic data releases in the U.S., and no Federal Reserve officials set to speak publicly, since the central bank is still in its “blackout period” ahead of its policy meeting, which begins on Tuesday.
Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, said gold appears to have run out of downside momentum as the selloff over the past week has returned the yellow metal to its weakest level in two years.
Another catalyst, such as a hawkish Fed on Wednesday, would likely be needed for gold prices to continue to soften.
“The lead up to the FOMC meeting has been very bearish for gold. Gold is stabilizing here as selling pressure has exhausted itself and will likely need to wait for the FOMC decision,” Moya said.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
3.473%
was up 4.3 basis points at 3.492% in recent trade, around its highest level in more than a decade. Rising yields can weigh on gold and other commodities, raising the opportunity cost of holding nonyielding assets.
Gold futures had also marked their lowest finish since April 2020 on Thursday, pressured in part due to “continued hawkish money flows” and a stabilizing dollar, analysts at Sevens Report Research wrote in Monday’s newsletter.
The new lows for gold “have shifted our call on gold from neutral to bearish for the medium term,” they said. “That will remain the case until we reach peak hawkishness with Fed expectations resulting in a top in the dollar and interest rates, both nominal and real, beginning to decline.”
Until then, the Sevens Report analyst said they would “avoid precious metals and favor short-duration Treasur[ys] as a safe-haven destination for capital, as real yields are either positive or turning positive for the first time in years.”
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