Gold Ends Higher Ahead Of Fed Minutes

(RTTNews) - Gold futures ended higher for a second straight session Tuesday, ahead of the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve September monetary policy meeting due tomorrow, with investors seeking cues as to when the central bank will hike rates.

There has been widespread speculation that the Fed would hike interest rates sooner than later after the U.S. economy showed signs of strength with the better than expected jobs data last week.

Commodity prices have been falling in recent weeks as dollar surged to its highest in four years versus major rivals.

Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $5.10 or 0.4 percent to settle at $1,212.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday.

Gold for December delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,214.10 and a low of $1,203.00 an ounce.

On Monday, gold rebounded to end higher after the dollar trended lower against some major currencies with demand for the precious metal also picking up. Speculations were rife the the U.S. Federal Reserve will start raising rates, probably from Spring next year.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, remained unchanged at 767.47 tons on Tuesday from its previous close of 768.66 tons.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 85.79 on Tuesday, up from its previous close of 85.78 late Monday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 86.10 intraday and a low of 85.65.

The euro trended lower against the dollar at $1.2645 on Tuesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.2655 late Monday in North American trade. The euro scaled a high of $1.2664 intraday and a low of $1.2584.

In economic news, the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday slashed its growth projections for the world economy, stating that recovery remains weak and uneven amid rising financial and geopolitical risks. The Washington-based lender in its World Economic Outlook slashed global growth projection for this year to 3.3 percent from 3.4 percent predicted in July. The forecast for 2015 was lowered to 3.8 percent from the 4 percent forecast earlier.

From Europe, German industrial production declined at the fastest pace since January 2009, falling 4 percent month-on-month in August, underlining that the largest euro area economy is moving further down after contracting in the second quarter.

The British economy revealed a steady pace of expansion in the three months to September, with possibilities the central bank may hike interest rates in the first quarter of 2015, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said Tuesday. Economic output increased 0.7 percent in the three months ending September after growing 0.8 percent in the three months to August. This indicates the U.K. economy is now 3.1 percent larger than it was in the same period in 2013.

In the second quarter, the U.K. economy grew 0.9 percent sequentially and 3.2 percent annually, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Meanwhile, U.K. industrial production remained unchanged in August as maintenance at North Sea dampened oil and gas extraction. Industrial output remained flat in August from July, when it rose 0.4 percent, the Office for National Statistics reported Tuesday.