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Gold slides as United States dollar, yields increase; palladium hits one-month peak

Gold prices dropped more than 1% on Friday, weighed down by a more powerful dollar and greater bond yields after information revealed strong U.S. company activity, while autocatalyst metal palladium jumped to a onemonth high.

Area gold was down 1.7% at $2,319.95 per ounce as of 01:47 p.m. ET (1747 GMT). U.S. gold futures settled 1.6%. lower to $2,331.20.

We're most likely seeing a response to the bump in interest. rates this morning and the continued strong dollar that remains in. the after-effects of the information that came out previously, said Bart. Melek, head of product methods at TD Securities.

U.S. service activity approached to a 26-month high in June. in the middle of a rebound in employment. Data on Thursday revealed novice. applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell reasonably last. week.

The dollar rose 0.2% to its greatest level in. more than seven weeks, making gold more expensive for other. currency holder, while yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes. edged higher after U.S. data.

Traders are presently pricing in a 63% possibility of Fed rate. cut in September, little altered from late Thursday, according. to CME FedWatch Tool. Lower rates of interest minimize the. chance expense of holding non-yielding bullion.

On the other hand, area palladium was up 3.2% at $953.17 per. ounce after rising as much as 11.2% to $1,027.04 earlier in the. session.

There has been some substantial palladium ETF buying. recently which has triggered a short-term physical lack and. brought the front of the forwards market into backwardation,. said Tai Wong, a New York-based independent metals trader.

That has actually produced some havoc on the EFP (Exchange of futures. for physical) market which is thin to begin with and caused a. lot of volatility and short-covering. I expect this volatility. to continue for a couple of more days.

Somewhere else, platinum was up 1.8% at $995.78 per ounce,. while silver fell 3.7% to $29.57, but both metals were. heading for a weekly gain.

(source: Reuters)