Investing.com - Gold prices posted a moderate gain in early Asia on Friday as investors continued to ponder Federal Reserve tea leaves on the prospects of a rate hike by June.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April deliveries rose 0.16% to $1,170.90 a troy ounce.
Elsewhere, silver for May delivery gained 0.11% to $16.127 an ounce.
Copper for May delivery eased 0.01% to 2.660 a pound.
Overnight, gold prices soared for the second consecutive session, one day after somewhat dovish comments from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen regarding a potential interest rate hike helped the precious metal rebound from an extended slump.
Although the Federal Open Market Committee removed a reference to remaining patient from its minutes on Wednesday, Yellen insisted that it does not mean that the Fed will raise interest rates by June at the earliest.
On the contrary, Yellen asserted that the timing of the decision will be "data dependent," as the Fed considers indicators such as GDP growth, wage increases and inflation.
Yellen also appeared to strike a dovish tone with forecasts for weaker inflation and GDP growth.
The Fed expects Real GDP to grow between 2.1 and 3.1% for the remainder of 2015, a figure significantly below previous estimates. In terms of inflation, the Fed anticipates that it will reach a level of 0.6% to 0.8% in 2015 and 1.7% to 1.9% in 2016.
Last month in testimony before Congress, Yellen said that the Fed wanted to see inflation move toward its target goal of 2% before it raised interest rates.
The price of gold typically remains higher in periods of low interest rates, as the precious metal struggles to compete with high-yield assets.