SINGAPORE: Gold prices gained in Asian trade on Monday after hitting a more than seven-month low in the previous session, as support from a weaker dollar eclipsed pressure from firmer Treasury yields. Spot gold rose 0.5% to $1,791.50 per ounce by 0733 GMT, having touched its lowest since July 2 at $1,759.29 on Friday. US gold futures gained 0.6% to $1,787.70.

“The dollar coming off is helping to negate the rise in yields,” Howie Lee, an economist at OCBC Bank said, adding “gold is in a weird place... while there’s clearly a need for inflation hedging, firming risk sentiment has pressured gold”.

The dollar was sold to multi-year lows against sterling and rival currencies on Monday, but benchmark US Treasury yields hit a near one-year high, increasing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Apart from the $1.9 trillion US COVID-19 aid that is expected to pass by the end of the week, investors await Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony on the Semiannual Monetary Report to Congress starting Tuesday.

“The rise in yields will be the major headwind for gold for now, but if Powell hints at any dovishness or implies that current yields are too high for sustained economic recovery... then we can see gold embark on a rally again,” Lee said.