(Bloomberg) — Gold held steady in Asia after comments by the Bank of England on removing emergency market support by the end of the week ruffled traders, leaving investor sentiment fragile.

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Bullion has tumbled around 19% from its year-high in March due to relentless rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and prospects of more aggressive monetary-policy tightening. The traditional haven is well below the $1,700 an ounce level, with geopolitical tensions and concerns over more central bank moves to counter inflation weighing on its price.

BOE Governor Andrew Bailey’s warning to fund managers they have until the end of this week to wind up positions that they can’t maintain before market support is halted added pressure on the precious metal, driving up Treasury yields and the greenback. The non-yielding metal, which typically has a negative correlation with the dollar and rates, gave up gains of as much as 0.9% on Tuesday to finish the session slightly lower.

Focus is turning to US inflation data due Thursday for clues on the Fed’s future rate-hike path, after the central bank signaled the likelihood of pushing on with tightening its monetary policy.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,665.19 an ounce as of 7:42 a.m. in Singapore. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was steady. Silver, platinum and palladium were flat.

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