Gold Futures Settle Modestly Higher As Dollar Stays Subdued

Gold futures settled higher on Tuesday as the dollar was subdued with traders looking ahead to the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement on Wednesday.

It is widely expected the Fed will raise interest rates by another 75 basis points. However, there are expectations that the central bank might signal a slowdown in the pace of monetary tightening from December.

The accompanying policy statement and Fed Chief Jerome Powell’s news conference may provide additional clues regarding the likelihood of a pivot by the U.S. central bank.

The dollar index, which dropped to 110.72 about an hour into the New York session, climbed to 111.78 later on, before easing to 111.62, netting a marginal gain.

Gold futures for December ended higher by $9.00 or about 0.6% at $1,649.70 an ounce, coming off the day’s high of $1,660.30 an ounce.

Silver futures for December ended up $0.548 at $19.667 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $3.4725 per pound, gaining $0.0975.

The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its target cash rate by 25 basis points today, and hiked its inflation forecast and trimmed its GDP outlook.

The Bank of England is scheduled to announce its monetary policy on Thursday.

In U.S. economic news today, a report from the Labor Department showed a jump in U.S. job openings in the month of September.

A separate report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed a slight increase in U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of October.

The ISM said its manufacturing PMI edged down to 50.2 in October from 50.9 in September, but a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the sector. Economists had expected the index to dip to 50.0.

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