Gold in narrow range, as investors await US fed’s path

Gold prices settled in a narrow range today, Friday, after caution prevailed before the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) meeting next week, which is receiving great attention in search of any signs of a slowdown in the pace of interest rate hikes.

According to “Reuters”, gold prices did not witness little change in spot transactions and amounted to $ 1663.62 an ounce (an ounce) by 0521 GMT, while US gold futures rose 0.1 percent to $ 1666.30.

“The weak dollar and lower yields have certainly helped gold pull away from its lows, but that’s not yet a reason to be overly optimistic about gold,” said Matt Simpson, analyst at City Index.

While the Fed is likely to announce another 75 basis points increase in interest rates at its meeting next week, traders are expecting a half point increase in December.

The sharp hike by the US central bank in interest rates since March has led to a 9 percent drop in gold this year, because it increased the opportunity cost of acquiring the non-yielding precious metal, while strengthening the dollar at the same time.

As for other precious metals, silver fell in spot transactions 0.7 percent to $19.44 an ounce.

Platinum settled at $960.13, but rose more than two percent during the week. And palladium rose 0.3 percent to $ 1946.63, but it is heading towards a weekly decline of more than three percent.