Gold prices fell on Thursday, hovering near a more than one-week low, weighed down by a stronger dollar and a rebound in risk sentiment as investors looked past economic threats from rising cases of the Delta coronavirus variant.
NSE
Spot gold was down 0.3 percent at USD 1,798.27 per ounce, as of 0313 GMT, after hitting its lowest since July 12 at USD 1,793.59 in the previous session.
US gold futures eased 0.3 percent to USD 1,798.70 per ounce.
"Gold prices are under pressure because the dollar is now hovering around highest in three months and Wall Street rebounded for the second day meaning that traders are shrugging off virus concerns and back to reflation trade," said Margaret Yang, a strategist at DailyFX.
Asian stocks rallied on Thursday on the back of overnight gains in Wall Street, as investors largely overlooked apprehension about the Delta coronavirus variant and inflation.
The dollar index held steady, hovering below a 3-1/2-month peak ahead of the European Central Bank policy decision later in the day.
Policymakers will implement for the first time changes to their strategy and are all but certain to promise an even longer period of stimulus to make good on the commitment to boost inflation.
"ECB is widely expected to remain dovish, so this may lead euro to weaken against the dollar causing the greenback to rise, which will be negative for gold. For now, gold's near-term momentum seemed to tilt to the downside," Yang said.
Meanwhile, Benchmark US Treasury yields continued their bounce from five-month lows following a weak 20-year bond auction.
Spot gold may break a support at USD 1,795 per ounce and fall towards USD 1,785, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
Among other precious metals, silver edged 0.1 percent lower to USD 25.21 per ounce, palladium rose 0.4 percent to USD 2,665.21, and platinum was steady at USD 1,080.39.