Gold Up, But Remains Below $1,800 Mark as Fed Signals Quicker Asset Tapering

Gold was up on Thursday morning in Asia, but kept below the $1,800 mark after the minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest meeting suggesting that the central bank could accelerate asset tapering.

Gold futures were up 0.47% to $1,792.75 by 9:42 PM ET (2:42 AM GMT), after falling to its lowest level since Nov. 4 on Wednesday. The dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, inched down on Thursday.

The minutes from the Fed’s meeting, released on Wednesday, showed that an increasing number of Fed policymakers would be open to speeding up asset tapering should high inflation continue. Policymakers also signaled a willingness to hike interest rates quicker than planned, if needed.

The U.S. also released data on Wednesday, ahead of a U.S. holiday on Thursday. The data showed that GDP grew 2.1% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter and that 199,000 initial jobless claims were filed throughout the week.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank (ECB) must keep borrowing costs in check as the coronavirus pandemic drags on and there is no sign that inflation is getting out of control, ECB board member Fabio Panetta said on Wednesday.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will also speak at a Cambridge Union event later in the day.

In Asia Pacific, the Bank of Korea hiked its interest rate to 1% as it handed down its policy decision earlier in the day.

In other precious metals, silver gained 0.5%, platinum jumped 1.2% and palladium rose 0.7%.