PRECIOUS-Gold weighed down by rising US Treasury yields

* 10-year Treasury bill yields peaked since early July

* PBOC cash injections support gold – analyst (redesign, add comments and update prices)

September 27 (Reuters) – Gold prices were subdued on Monday, under pressure from rising U.S. bond yields and a robust dollar, as investors waited for speeches from Federal Reserve policymakers to find out when the central bank could reduce its economic support in the era of the pandemic.

Spot gold was little changed at $ 1,750.51 an ounce at 9:12 a.m. GMT. US gold futures fell 0.1% to $ 1,750.20.

Mitigating gold’s appeal by increasing its opportunity cost, benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields hit their highest level in nearly three months. The dollar also strengthened, adding further pressure.

“Gold appears to be in a prolonged period of slump and is unable to shake off anyway, with firmer 10-year Treasury yields and a robust dollar acting as headwinds,” the independent analyst said. Ross Norman.

The market will now focus on speeches by a large number of Fed officials this week, including President Jerome Powell, who will testify before Congress on the central bank’s policy response to the pandemic.

Gold is often seen as a hedge against higher inflation, but a Fed rate hike would increase the opportunity cost of holding gold, which earns no interest.

Norman said that while the central bank’s purchases were “encouraging” for the market, bullion lacked “quality” institutional flows, especially from North America.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were slightly higher on Friday after hitting a low more than a year earlier last week.

Investors were also keeping an eye on developments surrounding heavily indebted China Evergrande after the real estate giant missed a bond payment deadline last week.

The People’s Bank of China continues to inject liquidity into the markets, indicating some systemic risks in the market and providing some support for bullion, said Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management.

Silver rose 0.4% to $ 22.50 an ounce.

Platinum climbed 0.1% to $ 982.82, while palladium rose 0.4% to $ 1,978.93.