Gold prices are higher Monday morning, lifted by a weaker U.S. dollar ahead of release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting in December. The bank will release the minutes this Wednesday.
However, with global stocks largely staying higher amid renewed optimism about a U.S.-China long term trade deal, the yellow metal's gains are somewhat limited.
The Fed, which hiked interest rate by 25 basis points in December, the fourth such hike in the year, indicated two more increases in 2019. Subsequently, some key officials, including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the bank would be flexible with regard to future policy stance.
Powell said the central bank "will be patient" with monetary policy as it watches the economy evolve. Powell stressed that monetary policy is not on a "preset path" after the Fed raised interest rates four times in 2018 and forecast two rate hikes in the new year.
"Particularly with muted inflation readings that we've seen coming in, we will be patient as we watch to see how the economy evolves," Powell said last week.
The Fed chief said the central bank is always prepared to significantly shift the stance of monetary policy if incoming economic data does not meet expectations.
Gold futures for February are up $6.95, or 0.54%, at $1,292.75 an ounce. On Friday, gold futures ended down $9.00, or 0.7%, at $1,285.80 an ounce.
The dollar index is down by 0.238 points, or about 0.25% at 95.512, coming off an earlier high of 95.688.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company -
www.instaforex.com