Gold
prices rose during trading on Tuesday, as investors await the Federal Reserve’ next
move after the U.S. economy relapse into recession on the back of the Covid-19
restrictions.
As
of 09:06 GMT, spot gold hovered around $1,708.69 an ounce, where the
precious metal touched its highest level during the session at $1,709.15,
witnessing a 0.60 percent increase.
Investors
are looking forward to the start of the Fed's two-day meeting, which will end
with the announcement of the monetary policy statement on Wednesday, amid
expectations that the US Central Bank will repeat its commitment to buying
unlimited amounts of assets.
Meanwhile,
odds for negative interest rates in the United States dropped significantly,
following a surprisingly strong and unexpected jobs report last Friday.
However,
the National Bureau of Economic Research said on Tuesday that activity
and employment hit a "clear" and "well-defined" peak in
February, before falling.
"The
unprecedented magnitude of the decline in employment and production, and its
broad reach across the entire economy, warrants the designation of this episode
as a recession, even if it turns out to be briefer than earlier contractions,"
the Bureau said.
The
yellow has metal benefited from the US dollar's fall near a three-month low
earlier, making gold less expensive for holders of other currencies.
However,
the precious metal's gains remained limited as investors preferred high-risk
assets, with U.S. stocks rising to record highs on hopes of an economic
recovery.
U.S.
job data, as well as the confidence of small American companies, are scheduled
to be released later in the day.
Meanwhile,
the dollar index, which trails the performance of the green currency against
six major currencies, ascended 0.34 percent to trade at 96.92, while the
highest level recorded was at 97.06.
As
for other precious metals, silver descended by 0.31 percent to $17.83 an ounce,
while the lowest level recorded during the session was at $17.68.
Palladium slumped by 2.22
percent to trade at $1,991.30 an ounce, while platinum went in the same
direction by slumping 1.05 percent at $852.40.
