- 10-year Treasury yield rise after four-day slide
- Trump set to fill Fed board vacancy by week's end
- Traders see 86% chance of Fed rate cut in September
- Perth Mint's July gold sales fall by 33%
Aug 6 (Reuters) - Gold prices eased on Wednesday as U.S. Treasury yields inched higher, while investors stayed cautious ahead of President Donald Trump's upcoming decisions on Federal Reserve appointments.
Spot gold was down 0.4% at $3,366.81 per ounce, as of 0904 GMT, after hitting a nearly two-week high on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures fell by 0.4% to $3,420.90.
Yields on benchmark 10-year Treasuries rose after four straight days of declines, reducing the appeal of non-yielding bullion.
"Investors will be keeping a close eye on developments regarding White House appointments to the Federal Reserve and any trade-related news, both of which have the potential to influence market sentiment," said Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades.
Trump said on Tuesday he will announce a nominee this week for an upcoming vacancy on the Fed's Board of Governors. He also confirmed that the shortlist of potential successors to Chair Jerome Powell has been narrowed to four candidates.
Markets anticipate an 86% chance of a September rate cut, CME FedWatch shows, after Friday's weak jobs report - which also prompted Trump to fire the commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, adding to policy uncertainty.
Trade tensions are also ongoing. Trump renewed his threat to hike tariffs on Indian goods over the country's purchases of Russian oil.
Gold, long seen as a safe haven in times of political and economic uncertainty, typically performs well in a low-interest-rate environment.
Despite the day's pullback, Evangelista said there was scope for further gains in gold, with a near-term target of $3,400, citing persistent demand driven by tariff frictions, concerns over growth and inflation, and sustained weakness in the dollar.
On the physical markets, Perth Mint reported that gold product sales in July dropped by 33% from the previous month and silver sales slid to a six-month low.
Spot silver fell 0.1% to $37.80 per ounce, platinum rose 0.5% to $1,327.93 and palladium fell 0.1% to $1,174.34.
Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese and Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; editing by Barbara Lewis
Source: Reuters