New york: Gold prices extended their gains Wednesday as US Treasury yields fell sharply after the Treasury Department announced plans to increase its buybacks of longer-term government debt.

According to Anadolu Agency, gold rose 3% to around $4,460 per ounce as of 1330GMT, while silver gained 3.3% to $65.40. The Treasury Department revealed plans to at least double the size of its buyback operations for longer-term notes and bonds, which triggered a rally in the US government bond market.

The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond fell toward 5.2% after reaching 5.34% on Tuesday, marking its highest level since 2007. Similarly, the 10-year yield also declined after approaching its highest since early 2025. The Treasury Department emphasized that the expanded operations aimed to support market liquidity rather than mitigate episodes of acute market stress.

Under the new plan, the maximum size of individual repurchase operations for securities with maturities of between 10 and 30 years is expected to rise from $2 billion to at least $4 billion. Lower bond yields typically support gold by reducing the opportunity cost of holding non-interest-bearing bullion.

The decline of the US dollar further supported precious metals, with the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of major currencies, falling around 0.7% to 98.86. Investors are also anticipating the release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve's July meeting for insights into policymakers' inflation assessments and the future path of interest rates.