Gold recovered from a one-week low on Tuesday as the dollar reversed gains and bond yields came off highs, but short-term risks were to the downside as traders awaited news on US monetary policy and jobs data. US Treasury yields - the benchmark for world lending rates - moved above 2.7 percent overnight, their highest in 3-1/2 years, helping the dollar off its lows and initially weighing on gold until the trends reversed.
Still, markets are bracing for potentially hawkish language from the US Federal Reserve, which begins its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday amid signs that US economic growth is picking up steam. "On Friday US jobs data should confirm the strong picture for the US economy, which speaks in favour of rate rises and a strong dollar, so in the short term gold is under pressure," said Mitsubishi analyst Jonathan Butler.
He added, however, that the dollar is still "very much in a long-term downtrend". Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,344.90 an ounce at 1510 GMT, having dropped by 0.7 percent in the previous session. Earlier in the day bullion hit its lowest since January 23. US gold futures were up 0.3 percent at $1,343.70.
World equity markets were in their biggest two-day dive in six months, helping safe-haven gold, while the dollar index slipped back after climbing overnight amid firmer bond yields. Rising bond yields increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion while strengthening the dollar, making dollar-priced gold costlier for investors holding other currencies.
Investors are awaiting US President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech for comments on the dollar. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin gave dollar bears a boost last week with a tacit endorsement of a weak US currency, though Trump later tried to row back from those comments.
In other precious metals, silver rose 0.3 percent to $17.23 an ounce. Platinum was down 0.4 percent at $995.99 after touching its lowest since January 23. Palladium was off 1.4 percent at $1,068.97 after hitting its lowest since January 11. A surge in platinum prices this month has helped the metal used in autocatalysts to break above a downward trendline in place since early 2013, providing the first indication of a turnaround in momentum after years of decline led to stagnation.