Investing.com - Gold prices rose slightly in Asia on Monday with the Fed squarely in focus and remarks to the U.S. Congress by President Donald Trump due Tuesday seen as key to the central bank's views.
Gold for April delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 0.12% to $1,258.65, up 0.03%.
Ahead this week, markets will focus on Trump's address to Congress on Tuesday for further details on his promises of tax reform, deregulation and infrastructure spending as well as a handful of Fed appearances, most importantly Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Friday. Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool still sees a low chance for a Fed rate hike in March, though investors are showing caution.
Last week, gold futures continued to trade near session highs on Friday, buoyed by a slump in the dollar, as optimism concerning ‘Trumpflation’ fades while the latest batch of U.S. economic data had a limited impact on upside momentum in the yellow-metal.
Gold futures capitalized on continued pressure in the U.S. dollar with the yellow-metal hitting its highest point in 3-1/2 months in the intraday session, after the release of mixed U.S. economic data.
The Commerce Department said new home sales rose 3.7 percent to a seasonally-adjusted 555,000 units but missed analysts’ estimates of a 6.3% rise in January. U.S. consumer sentiment remained upbeat, after The University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index hit 96.3 in February, compared to expectations of 96.3.
The rally in gold futures comes as Fed minutes released on Wednesday, highlighted a reluctance among some Fed members’ to support a raise in interest rates while uncertainty over the impact of Trump’s economic policies on economic growth remained.
On Thursday U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he wants to see "very significant" tax reform passed before Congress' August recess, but indicated that much work was still needed.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserve’s February meeting said it may be appropriate to raise rates again "fairly soon" if jobs and inflation data continues in line with current expectations. But the minutes also noted uncertainty over a lack of clarity on Trump's economic policies and pointed to the risks to the growth outlook from the stronger dollar.