Gold Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Fed

Gold futures climbed on Wednesday, advancing modestly ahead of a monetary policy statement due out from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

February gold  rose $4.80 an ounce to $1,665.30 in Asia electronic trading hours on Wednesday.

The contract gained $7.90, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,660.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday.

Gold for delivery in April, the contract seeing the highest level of open interest, edged up $4.60 to $1667.40 an ounce.

Edward Meir, metals analyst at INTL FCStone, said that he expected metal markets to trade sideways until the U.S. Federal Reserve releases its latest monetary policy statement later in the global trading day.

The statement will likely offer investors “more of a clue as to how divided the central bank is with respect to its asset buying program and where it sees the economy going,” he said.

“Until then, the uneventful drift in most markets should continue,” he said.

Across the wider metal markets, silver for March delivery rose 23 cents to $31. 41 an ounce, while March copper edged up 1 cent to $3.70 a pound.

April platinum  advanced $9.90 to $1688.80 an ounce, while palladium for delivery in March  climbed $2.35 to $752.10 an ounce.

Marketwatch