gold futures on thursday traded slightly lower as the us dollar rose amid a continued downshift in omicron concerns but a slight retreat intreasury yields may be limiting the downward pressure on the yellow metal’s price february gold gcg22 gc00 was trading 240 or 01 to reach 180340 an ounce after declining 03 on wednesday many technical investors see gold holding above 1800 as an important level that can signal wavering momentum naeem aslam chief market analyst at avatrade said that gold’s ability to hold above 1800 despite the 10year treasury note tmubmusd10y rising to above 155 at its intraday peak as a plus for gold higher yields can dull appetite for bullion which doesn’t offer a coupon “in normal circumstances a rise in treasury yields drags down the price of gold due to a rise in opportunity cost” aslam wrote in a daily note “however this was not the case on wednesday when the yellow metal was able to maintain itself above the 1800 mark because of a lower dollar index which is floating around its onemonth low” the avatrade analyst wrote “gains in the dollar index are being capped as investors are favoring riskier currencies because of declining worries related to the omicron variant” he said the dollar index was trading less than 01 higher at 9597 as measured by the ice dollar index dxy  and could pave the way for further slight gains for bullion a weaker dollar can make assets priced in the currency comparatively more attractive to overseas buyers meanwhile march silver sih22 was virtually unchanged at 2287 an ounce following a 11 decline on wednesday