Gold falls on rise in US bond yields; Spot gold reaches $1,852.21 per ounce

Gold inched lower on Thursday, with prices restrained by rising Treasury yields ahead of key US jobs and inflation data this week.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was down 0.1% at $1,852.21 per ounce, as of 0052 GMT, while US gold futures also eased 0.1% to $1,853.90.

* Benchmark US 10-year Treasury yields firmed on Thursday, lowering the appeal of zero-yield gold.

* SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.22% to 1,065.39 tonnes on Wednesday from 1,063.06 tonnes on Tuesday.

* US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday the Biden administration was looking to "reconfigure" tariffs on Chinese imports but warned that such cuts would not be a "panacea" for easing high inflation.

* The war in Ukraine has made the growth outlook far bleaker even though the global economy should avoid a bout of 1970s-style stagflation, the OECD said on Wednesday, slashing its growth forecasts and jacking up its inflation estimates.

* Bullion is often seen as a hedge against inflation.

* US wholesale inventories increased slightly more than initially thought in April, suggesting that inventory investment could provide a lift to economic growth this quarter.

* The Reserve Bank of India's key interest rate was raised by 50 basis points on Wednesday as widely expected, the second hike in as many months, in a bid to cool persistently high inflation in Asia's third-largest economy.

* Spot silver was flat at $22.04 per ounce, while platinum fell 0.2% to $1,003.64, and palladium rose 0.4% to $1,950.12.