Gold Prices Move Higher Ahead of Fed Decision
Investing.com - Gold prices rose on Wednesday as investors awaited the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s meeting later in the day for fresh signals on future monetary tightening.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange were up $6.15 or 0.48% to $1,276.64 a troy ounce by 04:12 AM ET (08:12 AM GMT).
The Fed was expected to leave interest rates unchanged at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting later Wednesday, but investors were waiting for any indications that it will resume raising rates next month as expected and on the timing of any rate hikes in 2018.
Traders were also awaiting President Donald Trump’s announcement about his pick for the next head of the U.S. central bank. Recent reports have indicated that Trump is likely to appoint Fed Governor Jerome Powell, who is viewed as more dovish than other candidates.
The dollar was little changed against a basket of the other major currencies, with the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies at 94.50.
Gold is sensitive to moves higher in the U.S. dollar – a stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency, thus, reduces investor demand for the precious metal.
Meanwhile, reports on Tuesday indicated that the U.S. economy is gaining momentum as traders looked ahead to Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report for October.
Consumer confidence jumped to an almost 17-year high last month and another report showed that wage growth accelerated in the third quarter.
In other metals trading, silver futures were up 1.09% to $16.87 while platinum futures added 0.77% to $928.45.
Copper for December delivery was up 1.35% to $3.154 a pound.
Data on Wednesday showed that China’s manufacturing output rose at the slowest pace in four months in October, a potentially bearish sign for industrial metals.
China accounts for nearly half the world’s copper consumption and optimism over strong economic growth this year has helped push prices to three-year highs.
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Gold Prices Move Higher Ahead of Fed Decision
