Gold prices stuck to a narrow range on Thursday, hovering near five-week lows hit in the previous session, pressured by a stronger dollar and a rise in US Treasury yields. Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,324.61 per ounce at 0656 GMT, a day after it fell to $1,318.51, its lowest since March 21. US gold futures rose 0.3 percent to $1,326.2 an ounce.
"Gold prices are lower because of the stronger dollar," said Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals in Hong Kong. "At these low levels the market could now attract some physical buying interest ... the market has a very good (physical) support at around $1,310-$1,315 levels."
"Contributing to this (fall in gold prices) was a rise in the dollar and further increase in Treasury yields above 3 percent, which made holding the precious metal less attractive," ANZ Bank said in a note. Spot gold may test support at $1,317 per ounce, with a good chance of breaking below this level and falling more to the next support at $1,310, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.