Gold edges higher after Fed taper plan

Shafaq News/ Gold prices inched higher on Thursday, after hitting a three-week low in the last session, as investors took solace in the US Federal Reserve's plan to dial back its stimulus without hiking interest rates for a while.

Spot gold rose 0.1% to $1,771.87 per ounce by 0612 GMT, after touching its lowest since Oct. 13 on Wednesday. US gold futures gained 0.6% to $1,773.70.

In a widely expected move, the Fed said it would start trimming its monthly asset purchases in November with plans to end them by mid-2022.

But the central bank signalled it would stay patient before raising interest rates as it held onto its belief that inflation would be "transitory" and awaited more signs of job growth.

The Fed's view leaves gold in a decent position, for now, to move higher until the central bank decides to start hiking rates, said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

"Given the Fed's view that inflation could persist until about mid-2022 and some signs from the labour market of full employment as evidenced by wage growth, it's not going to take much for the Fed to accelerate tapering, weighing on gold," he added.

Gold tends to benefit from lower interest rates as they reduce the opportunity cost of holding bullion.

Michael Langford, a director at corporate advisory AirGuide expects gold to trade between $1,750 and $1,800 until data such as job reports and wage growth, which are key variables to central banks, are released.

Focus now shifts to Friday's key US nonfarm payrolls report.

Also on investors' radar was the Bank of England's policy decision at 1200 GMT, where it could raise interest rates.

Spot silver fell 0.1% to $23.46 per ounce. Platinum gained 0.5% to $1,034.18, while palladium climbed 1.2% to $2,023.47.

Source: Reuters