Investing.com - Gold prices held nearly flat in Asia on Tuesday with the focus on U.S. Federal Reserve views on the trajectory of interest rates in the comng year.
Gold for February delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange traded at $1,108.00 a troy ounce, down 0.01%.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for March delivery rose 0.07% to trade at $14.220 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in metals trading, copper gained 0.08% to $1.994 a pound.
Copper is down nearly 6% so far this year as investors slashed holdings of the red metal amid persistent worries over an economic slowdown in China. The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for nearly 45% of world consumption.
Overnight, gold futures rallied in North America trade on Monday, as retreating oil prices, a weaker dollar and losses in global equity markets underpinned demand for assets perceived as safer.
Global stock markets declined as a renewed drop in oil prices hit market sentiment and fueled risk aversion.
Investors looked ahead to this week’s Federal Reserve policy statement for any indication that the bank is considering slowing the path of interest rate increases this year.
The Fed is not expected to take action on interest rates at the conclusion of its two day policy meeting on Wednesday, but it will be watched for any change in tone about the economy or future rate hikes.
Many in the market anticipate the pace of future increases to be gradual amid concerns over tepid growth overseas and indications that U.S. economic growth stalled in the fourth quarter. A gradual path to higher rates is seen as less of a threat to gold prices than a swift series of increases.
Market participants will also be looking to Friday’s data on U.S. fourth quarter gross domestic product, which is expected to show that growth slowed to a modest 0.8% from 2.0% in the third quarter.