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Gold prices were flat on Thursday,

restrained by rising Treasury yields, after its appeal was

somewhat restored by minutes from a U.S. Federal Reserve policy

meet that showed the central bank was likely to stay the course

on interest rate hikes.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold held its ground at $1,852.27 per ounce,

as of 0057 GMT. U.S. gold futures gained 0.3% to

$1,852.30.

* Gold pared some dollar strength-driven losses on Wednesday

after notes from the Fed’s meet suggested the central bank would

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stick to hiking interest rates by 50 basis points in June and

July to combat inflation they agreed had become a key threat to

the economy’s performance.

* Wall Street ended higher as investors were heartened by

the fact that Fed policymakers unanimously felt the U.S. economy

was very strong as they grappled with reining in inflation

without triggering a recession.

* Higher short-term U.S. interest rates and bond yields

raise the opportunity cost of holding bullion, which yields

nothing.

* The dollar index edged lower, making bullion less

expensive for buyers holding other currencies, and limiting

losses.

* European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde gained

key allies for her plan to raise rates out of negative territory

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this summer, even as one of her own board members on Wednesday

expressed some skepticism about the policy path ahead.

* SPDR Gold Trust , the world’s largest gold-backed

exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.2% to 1,069.81

tonnes on Wednesday from 1,068.07 tonnes in the prior day.

* Spot silver dipped 0.3% to $21.91 per ounce, while

platinum gained 0.6% to $948.93, and palladium

rose 0.3% to $2,011.96.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0130 Australia Capital Expenditure Q1

1230 US GDP 2nd Estimate Q1

1230 US Initial Jobless Clm weekly

1230 US Retail Sales MM Mar

(Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam in Bengaluru; Editing by

Sherry Jacob-Phillips)