By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was up on Wednesday morning in Asia, with investors monitoring progress on U.S. stimulus measures and the Federal Reserve’s policy decision. The rapid progress in COVID-19 vaccine rollouts is also sparking hopes for a quick economic recovery.
Gold futures were up 0.29% at $1,860.65 by 12:04 PM ET (4:04 AM GMT). Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust (P:GLD) fell 0.10% to 1,170.15 tons on Tuesday.
Following regulatory approval for Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech SE's (F:22UAy) COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2 over the past two weeks, Moderna Inc's (NASDAQ:MRNA) mRNA-1273 offering looks set to receive regulatory authorization by the end of the week. The U.S. also expanded its roll-out program for BNT162b2.
Europeans are also likely to be inoculated before 2021, with the European Medicines Agency accelerating its approval process on Tuesday.
Back in the U.S., negotiations over the latest U.S. stimulus measures continued as Republicans and Democrats finalize a spending bill for the fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1. This spending bill must be passed by Friday, ahead of the measures, if a government shutdown is to be avoided.
The Fed is widely expected to keep interest rates pinned near zero and to signal where rates are headed in the coming years when it concludes its two-day policy meeting later in the day. Some investors also expect new guidance on a timeline for the Fed’s massive bond-buying program.