© Reuters. Gold bars in a photo from the Reuters archive.
From Kafia Jodoro
(Reuters) – It rose on Thursday as the dollar weakened as investors braced for key US inflation data and next week’s Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting.
It was up 0.3% to $1,791.28 an ounce by 15:23 GMT, after rising more than 1% on Wednesday.
US gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,803.20.
It fell 0.2% against its rivals, making gold less expensive for holders of other currencies.
“We’re just waiting for some new fundamentals,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals. He added that gold prices are likely to trade “volatile and in a tight range” ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting.
Investors are closely watching the monetary policy decision at the Federal Reserve’s Dec. 14 meeting
Most market participants expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by 50 basis points. Consumer price data for November, due on December 13, will also be closely monitored.
And strong US economic data has raised fears that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates more than expected of late.
Raising interest rates to combat rising inflation often increases the cost of owning gold that doesn’t produce a yield.
The World Gold Council said international ETF gold reserves fell for the seventh consecutive month in November, although outflows slowed to 34 tonnes worth $1.8 billion.
In spot transactions, it was up 1.7% to $23.10 an ounce, and platinum was up 0.5% to $1,007.59 and 3.7% to $1,913.44.
(Prepared by Duaa Muhammad and Muhammad Harfush for the Arab Bulletin – Edited by Mustafa Saleh)