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Gold futures rise after FOMC announcement

Xinhua, February 3, 2017 Adjust font size:

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose on Thursday after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announcement made after the market's close on Wednesday.

The most active gold contract for March delivery rose 11.1 U.S. dollars, or 0.92 percent, to settle at 1,219.40 dollars per ounce.

Expectations for the next U.S. central bank rate hike have changed as of the February Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. During the meeting the Fed' s members recognized increasingly positive investor sentiment but still said they observed moderate growth.

As a result, investors believe the Fed may raise rates from 0.75 to 1.00 during the May FOMC meeting at the earliest. According to the CME Group's Fedwatch tool, the current implied probability of a hike from 0.50 to at least 0.75 is at 13 percent at the March meeting and 36 percent for the May meeting.

Gold was given additional support as the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.1 percent to 20.32 as of 1845 GMT. Analysts note that when equities post losses, the precious metal usually goes up, as investors are looking for a safe haven, while the opposite is true when U.S. equities post gains.

The U.S. Dollar Index rose by 0.05 percent to 99.79 as of 1845 GMT, remaining generally unchanged. The index is a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies. Gold and the dollar typically move in opposite directions, which means if the dollar goes up, gold futures will fall as gold, measured by the dollar, becomes more expensive for investors.

Gold's gains were further capped as the weekly jobless claims report released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday showed initial jobless claims decreasing by 14,000 to a 246,000 level during the week of January 28th. Analysts note that this report was much stronger than expected and is below the consensus range for this measure.

Silver for March delivery fell 2.1 cents, or 0.12 percent, to close at 17.429 dollars per ounce. Platinum for April delivery dropped 0.2 dollars, or 0.02 percent, to close at 999.60 dollars per ounce. Endit