The initial surge was driven by a surprise US Treasury Department announcement regarding liquidity support for long-term bonds, which weighed on the dollar and pushed Treasury yields lower. Meanwhile, U.S. gold futures bucked the spot trend, edging up 0.2% to $4,553.30.

Performance across other precious metals was mixed during early trading. Spot silver gained 0.2% to reach $67.07 an ounce, while platinum declined by 1.3% to $1,802.29 an ounce, and palladium slipped 0.2% to $1,328.06 an ounce.