gold futures were marginally higher early thursday steadying after pulling back from a nearly ninemonth high seen after treasury yields fell this week   gold for february delivery gcg23 rose 3 or 02 to 1910 an ounce on comex   march silver sih23 fell 102 cents or 04 to 23545 an ounce   january platinum plf23 shed 15 to 1028 an ounce while march palladium pah23 was off 04 at 169950 an ounce   march copper hgh23 was down 12 at 4185 a pound gold ended lower wednesday after touching the highest intraday level for a most actively traded contract since late april a fall in treasury yields and a weaker us dollar have helped set the stage for a gold rally “gold is bid above the 1900 level and the positive pressure is supported by lower us yields which decrease the opportunity cost of holding the noninterestbearing yellow metal and the softer us dollar” said ipek ozkardeskaya senior analyst at swissquote bank in a note treasury yields were little changed early thursday but fell sharply on wednesday with the 2 and 10year rates dropping to levels last seen in september after us data showed a largerthanexpected drop in december retail sales and a further slowdown in wholesale inflation the us dollar which roared higher in 2022 has also been in retreat a weaker dollar can be supportive to commodities priced in the unit making them less expensive to users of other currencies technically overbought conditions for gold following its recent rise “hint that we could see a minor downside correction in the short run but levels between 1855 and 1900 are interesting for amassing gold” ozkardeskaya wrote