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Gold prices traded slightly higher Monday, and have been moving in a tight range ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s gathering this week, which could solidify bullish or bearish momentum for the precious metals complex.
“Gold continues to consolidate this morning as the price remains under pressure from a higher U.S. Dollar, fueled by expectation of upcoming hawkish measures from the Fed,” wrote Pierre Veyret, technical analyst at ActivTrades, in a note.
February gold
GCG22,
GC00,
traded $1.30, or less than 0.1%, higher at $1,786.10 an ounce on Comex, after the most-active contract booked gains of around 0.1% for the week on Friday.
Market participants are awaiting monetary-policy decisions from the Fed when its two-day policy meeting concludes Wednesday, where the central bank will offer its update on projections of interest rates and the pace of its reduction of COVID-era accommodations, which will impact trading in precious metals such as gold and silver. Updates on policy from the Bank of England, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan also are on deck later in the week.
On Friday, gold turned higher after the U.S. government reported that the rate of consumer inflation hit the highest level in nearly 40 years. Data on Friday revealed that the U.S. cost of living climbed in November and drove the rate of inflation to 6.8%, marking the highest annual rate since 1982.
Meanwhile, March silver
SIH22,
SI00,
was trading 7 cents, or 0.3%, higher at $22.27 an ounce, following a weekly drop around 1.3%.
