Gold Jumps as Fed Keeps Door Open for Rate Cut

Investing.com - Gold prices jumped on Thursday in Asia after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept the door open for an interest rate cut later this year.

Gold futures for August delivery, traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, were up 2.6% at $1,383.50 per ounce by 12:45 AM ET (04:45 GMT).

In its latest policy meeting, the Fed kept its benchmark rate unchanged in a range of 2.25% to 2.5% as expected.

However, it also signalled it was prepared to lean toward a more dovish stance amid slowing inflation and stuttering global growth.

"The Committee continues to view sustained expansion of economic activity, strong labor market conditions, and inflation near the Committee's symmetric 2%objective as the most likely outcomes, but uncertainties about this outlook have increased," the Fed said.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked on the Fed for not doing more to bolster the economy.

"The main question is no longer if the Fed will cut rates in July, but whether the easing will be by 25 or 50 basis points,” said Daisuke Karakama, chief market economist at Mizuho Bank, in a Reuters report.

The U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies was down 0.2% to 96.385.

Since the beginning of June, gold has only settled down twice as investors piled into the precious metal to hedge against a weakening of the dollar should the Fed tilt towards a rate cut.

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