Gold heads for weekly gain, amid fed ease hopes

Gold prices rose slightly today, Friday, on their way to achieving a weekly gain, as they received support from the decline in the dollar due to indications that the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) may soon slow the pace of raising interest rates.

According to Reuters, spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,758.41 an ounce by 0223 GMT, and is up 0.5% so far this week. US gold futures rose 0.7 percent to $1,758.30.

Silver settled at $21.51, but rose by about three percent during the week.

The minutes of the November 1-2 meeting on Wednesday showed that a “significant majority” of policy makers at the US central bank agreed that it “would soon be appropriate” to slow the pace of interest rate hikes.

That put the dollar on a weekly downward trajectory, making gold cheaper for overseas buyers.

The US central bank announced a fourth consecutive rate hike of 75 basis points earlier this month, and analysts widely expect it to raise interest rates by 50 basis points at its December meeting.

Gold is considered a tool to hedge against inflation, but high interest rates discourage investment in the precious metal, which does not yield a fixed return.

Platinum witnessed little change at $988.08, while palladium rose 0.2 percent to $1,883.40.