Gold prices steadied in early trading on Wednesday after hitting record highs last week, as safe-haven demand fueled by geopolitical risks in the Middle East partly offset pressure from a stronger dollar and U.S. Treasury yields.
Update prices
Spot gold was steady at $2,381.68 an ounce by 0337 GMT, after hitting an all-time high of $2,431.29 on Friday. U.S. gold futures fell 0.4 percent to $2,397.70.
The dollar held near a five-month high, making the greenback-priced metal less attractive to holders of other currencies.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields rose to 4.6591 percent, hovering near a five-month high hit in the previous session.
Gold prices have shown resilience in the face of rising Treasury yields and a stronger US dollar, while finding some support from safe-haven flows amid heightened geopolitical risks, as market participants continue to await Israel's response to Iranian attacks, said Yep Jun Rong, market strategist at IG.
He added that any escalation in geopolitical tension could pave the way for prices to test their all-time highs again.
Top Federal Reserve officials, including Chairman Jerome Powell, have declined to provide any guidance on when interest rates might be cut, saying instead that monetary tightening should continue for a longer period.
Data from the United States has raised questions about the possibility of cutting interest rates this year, as several global brokerage firms have revised their expectations for the US Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates to September instead of June.
The market is pricing in a 68 percent chance of a rate cut in September, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
Lower interest rates make it more attractive to hold non-yielding gold.
Among other precious metals, spot silver rose 0.3 percent to $28.16 an ounce, platinum fell 0.3 percent to $953.75, and palladium rose 0.4 percent to $1,017.58 an ounce.
