* Money falls as much as 5.4%
* Palladium set for worst week since early December
* A dollar hits a peak over a week
* Interactive graphical administration of global coronavirus distribution: tmsnrt.rs/3mvcUoa (New throughout, comment, updating prices)
Jan 8 (Reuters) – Gold accelerated its slide below the $ 1,900 mark on Friday, falling around 3% and slowing down other precious metals as a jump in the U.S. Treasury prompted a safe rebound bull bullion.
Spot loss fell as low as $ 1,849.55 and eventually fell 2.8% at $ 1,858.89 per ounce at 10:53 am EST (1553 GMT). It has fallen 1.8% in the first trading week of the new year. U.S. gold futures fell 2.8% to $ 1,859.20.
“Gold is a major fundamental movement for many investors and they are beginning to abandon their safe trade for gold,” said Edward Moya, OANDA’s senior market analyst.
“You may see that the Treasury market is seeing strong currents and that is taking away some of the appeal from gold.”
Democratic control of the U.S. Senate has pledged for major stimulus measures, raising benchmark 10-year bond yields to their highest levels since March.
U.S. December nonfarm payrolls data showed the economy lost jobs for the first time in eight months in December, raising the case for a big outlook of stimulus.
While gold has generally been seen as a hedge against inflation and money debasement that may be the result of widespread stimulus, especially last year, that has changed as bond yields are higher. ‘increasing the opportunity cost of keeping bullion interest-free.
Gold slipped despite a decline in the dollar, which reversed gains from an initial climb to the top of more than a week. “We’re going to see a lot more stimulus and that will ultimately drive interest rates higher,” said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.
Gold declined through to other metals, with silver down 4.9% at $ 25.78 per ounce, after falling as much as 5.4%, and on track to post its first decline in four weeks.
Palladium rose 1.6% to $ 2,381.60 an ounce to address its worst week since early December. Platinum fell 3.3% to $ 1,080.35, down 4.6% earlier. (Reporting by Shreyansi Singh and Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)