PRECIOUS-Gold firms as dollar, yields retreat; palladium hits 1-year high

Recasts, adds comments, updates prices

By Brijesh Patel

March 16 (Reuters) - Gold gained on Tuesday on a slight retreat in the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting, while auto-catalyst metal palladium scaled a one-year peak after a top producer cut its 2021 output forecast.

Spot gold XAU= was up 0.1% at $1,734.11 per ounce by 1214 GMT. U.S. gold futures GCv1 edged 0.1% higher to $1,731.40.

"A bit of dollar weakness and a slight retracement in the yields have given a little bit of a lift to gold, but gold has got some technical resistance ahead, at $1,745/oz," said Ross Norman, an independent analyst.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields eased from a more than one-year touched last week, while the dollar .DXY fell 0.1% against its rivals. US/ US/

The U.S. central bank's Federal Open Market Committee ends its two-day meeting on Wednesday. The Fed has kept interest rates pinned near zero for the past year, and has promised to keep them there until the economy reaches full employment. nL1N2L82OT nL1N2L82MC

"The Fed may address rising inflation concerns and even consider to push forward asset purchasing to compensate for the rising yields and that would be very positive for gold prices," said DailyFX strategist Margaret Yang.

Elsewhere, palladium XPD= jumped 5% to $2,507.37 per ounce, after scaling a one-year high of $2,520.31 earlier in the session.

Russia's Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest palladium producer, said on Tuesday its 2021 metal production volumes may fall short of its original guidance due to ongoing complications with two waterlogged mines in Siberia. nFWN2LE0C2

"Combination of market tightness coupled with significant demand from the auto sector has conspired in a thin market to see the market fantastically higher," independent analyst Norman said.

Silver XAG= fell 0.7% to $26.09 an ounce, while platinum XPT= gained 1.3% to $1,228.85.

(Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond and Louise Heavens)

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