Gold futures settled sharply higher on Tuesday as the dollar shed ground against some of its major counterparts as the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting got underway.
The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points. The accompanying statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s post meeting press conference will be in focus for more clues on the central bank’s future interest rate moves.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is widely expected to raise rates for a seventh straight meeting on Thursday and the big question is whether it will be a 25 or 50 bps rate hike.
The dollar index, which climbed to 102.40 around mid morning, dropped to 101.90 subsequently and was last seen at 101.95, down 0.21% from the previous close.
Gold futures for June ended higher by $31.10 or about 1.6% at $2,023.30 an ounce.
Silver futures for July ended up $0.389 at $25.619 an ounce, while Copper futures for July settled at $3.8625 per pound, down $0.0715 from the previous close.
In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing new orders for U.S. manufactured goods increased by slightly more than expected in March.
The Commerce Department said factory orders advanced by 0.9% in March after slumping by a revised 1.1% in February.
Economists had expected factory orders to climb by 0.8% compared to the 0.7% decrease originally reported for the previous month.
A separate report released by the Labor Department showed job openings in the U.S. fell by more than expected in the month of March.
The Labor Department said job openings decreased to 9.590 million in March from an upwardly revised 9.974 million in February. With the drop, job openings fell to their lowest level since April 2021.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is widely expected to raise rates for a seventh straight meeting on Thursday and the big question is whether it will be a 25 or 50 bps rate hike.
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