* U.S. CPI data due on Tuesday
* U.S. economy at "inflection point," Fed chair says
(New throughout, adds analyst comments, updates prices)
By Shreyansi Singh
April 12 (Reuters) - Gold fell on Monday as an uptick in
U.S. Treasury yields dimmed bullion's appeal, while investors
awaited key U.S. inflation and retail sales data for cues on
economic health.
Spot gold was 0.6% down at $1,733.40 an ounce by
10:26 a.m. EDT (1426 GMT). U.S. gold futures eased 0.6%
to $1,734.20.
"The bond yields have stabilized right now, but they
(elevated yields) are still an underlying negative for the
metals markets that produce no dividend or yield," said Kitco
Metals senior analyst Jim Wyckoff. "The bulls lost a little bit
of momentum and that is prompting shorter term technical traders
to press the sell side, putting prices under pressure."
Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields edged higher on Monday before
the Treasury Department's sale of $96 billion in new three-year
and 10-year notes, and ahead of key data releases this week,
including consumer price inflation.
Retail sales data is also expected on Thursday.
Higher yields have threatened gold's appeal as an inflation
hedge as they increase the opportunity cost of holding bullion,
which pays no interest.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in comments that aired
on Sunday night, said the U.S. economy is at an "inflection
point," with hopes of more growth and hiring in the coming
months, while risks of a spike in COVID-19 cases if there is a
hasty reopening lingered.
A new Fed framework builds in allowances for inflation to
run above the central bank's 2% target for a time without the
Fed intervening to rein it in.
StoneX analyst Rhona O'Connell said gold is likely to
benefit if inflation rises much higher than the target, but
added that "if we do start seeing inflation accelerating and
people start thinking interest rates are going to go up again,
then gold might struggle a bit."
Among other precious metals, silver fell 1.6% to
$24.83 per ounce, palladium was up 0.5% at $2,652.01 and
platinum slipped 1.6% to $1,178.99.
(Reporting by Shreyansi Singh and Sumita Layek in Bengaluru;
Editing by Will Dunham)
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