Gold Rises as Fed Seen as Delaying Rate Hike

Gold extended gains to a second straight session on Thursday as minutes of the Federal Reserve’s meeting showed U.S. central bank officials were cautious about raising interest rates too soon, hurting the dollar. Spot gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,214.10 an ounce by 0716 GMT.

The metal closed up 0.3 percent on Wednesday, after dropping to a six-week low of $1,197.56 earlier in the session. Fed policymakers expressed concern last month that raising rates too soon could pour cold water on the U.S. economic recovery, and fretted over the impact of dropping “patient” from the central bank’s rate guidance.

The minutes from the Fed’s Jan. 27-28 policy-setting meeting, released on Wednesday, show officials grappling to square solid U.S. economic growth with the weakness in international markets, as well as worrying about falling inflation expectations in the United States.

“Bullion’s move up after the FOMC minutes may be attributed to an easing of investors’ rate hike concerns,” said HSBC analyst James Steel, referring to the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee.

via Reuters

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