Investing.com - Gold gained in Asia on Thursday in a light regional data day as investors digested the latest Fed views and turned focus to a Bank of Japan policy announcement on Friday.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for December delivery rose 0.86% to $1,346.05 a troy ounce.
Silver futures for September delivery gained 1.97% to $20.388 a troy ounce, while copper futures for September delivery fell 0.05% to $2.191 a pound.
In a 9-1 vote, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) left the target range on its benchmark Federal Funds Rate unchanged at a level between 0.25% and 0.50% on Wednesday at a two-day meeting in Washington D.C. At the same time, the FOMC only midlly suggested a rate hike could be in the offing this year.
"Near-term risks to the economic outlook have diminished," the Fed's policy-setting committee said in its statement following a two-day meeting
Overnight, gold erased slight losses on Wednesday amid a slew of soft economic data.
Since hitting 28-month highs earlier this month, Gold has slid nearly 2% as investors have piled into global equities in broad risk-on trade. Still, the precious metal is up by approximately 25% year to date and is on pace for one of its strongest years in a decade.
Investors reacted to weak factory and housing data on Wednesday morning, ahead of the Fed's closely-watched decision. In June, new Durable Goods Orders slumped by 4.0% on the month, falling considerably below consensus estimates of a 1.3% decline. At the same time, core orders were also soft, falling by 0.5% as core capital goods posted their 17th year-over-year decline over the last 18 months. The sharp declines were slightly offset by a strong performance from vehicles, which reported a 2.6% gain on the month.
Also on Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index rose by 0.2% last month, far below consensus forecasts of 1.3%. The subdued reading also follows a decline of 3.7% in May. The losses were concentrated in the Western region of the U.S., which reported a 1.8% drop in sales from the same level 12 months ago.