MW: Gold tries for second day of mild recovery ahead of Fed decision
Gold futures tried for back-to-back gains Tuesday after a nine-session slide had landed the yellow metal at lows last seen in late January.
Financial markets, including precious metals, are largely in a holding pattern ahead of confirmation on Wednesday for whatâs widely expected to be another Federal Reserve interest-rate hike, an anticipated move that has already rallied the dollar and depressed metals prices.
âMild short covering from the shorter-term traders and some bargain buying in the cash markets are featured in both metals early this week,â said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco.
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Gold for April delivery GCJ7, +0.12% rose $3.40, or 0.3%, to $1,206.20 an ounce. The contract ended at $1,201.40 an ounce last weekâthe lowest finish since Jan. 30. The metalâs nine-session slide had marked the longest streak of declines since July 2015, FactSet data showed.
Gold firmed amid consolidation even as the ICE Dollar Index DXY, +0.25% remained underpinned by higher rate prospects. It was up 0.2% early Tuesday. A firmer U.S. currency makes dollar-priced gold less desirable to investors using other currencies.
May silver SIK7, +0.14% rose 4 cents, or 0.3%, at $17.02 an ounce.
The Fed confirmed that its interest-rate policy committee will meet as planned on Tuesday and Wednesday despite the winter storm that has hobbled much of the Northeast.
Read: Fed may not âpull any punchesâ in policy statement
The Fed is widely expected to raise the range of its benchmark federal funds rate by a quarter-point at the end of its discussions. The central bank will release its statement and new economic forecasts on Wednesday at 2 p.m. Eastern. Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen will follow with a press conference at 2:30 p.m.
The SPDR Gold Trust ETF GLD, +0.02% was nearly unchanged premarket as was the gold-miner focused VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF GDX, +1.24% The iShares Silver Trust SLV, -0.43% was off 0.3%.