By Myra P. Saefong and Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures climbed Wednesday, poised to extend their winning streak to a seventh straight session, as traders braced for comments from the Federal Reserve on monetary policy.
Some relatively positive developments out of debt-stricken Greece also failed to reignite investors’ appetite for risk, making gold more attractive.
Gold for August delivery GC1Q +0.64% rose $12.30, or 0.8%, to $1,558.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract has gained $30.80 over the past six sessions.
July silver SI1Q +0.51% also climbed 30 cents, or 0.8%, to $36.68 an ounce.
The Fed is expected to announce a decision to end its program of buying $600 billion Treasury securities and hold interest rates steady. Read the Fed preview.
Gold seems to be “anticipating monetary and inflation problems associated with a post-QE2 universe,” said Richard Hastings, a macro strategist at Global Hunter Securities.
“But there are major risks to strategy right now because the Fed’s policy could change quickly later this year and in any direction depending on the nature of the budget discussions,” he said.
Chintan Karnani, chief analyst at Insignia Consultants in New Delhi, said “the main thing is how long will the Fed continue with an easy monetary stance, and whether any quantitative easing will be announced. If the injection of liquidity into the system is not announced, we might see a correction to $1,530 or maybe $1,510, then another move higher.”
Traders also continue to keep an eye on developments in Greece.
Late Tuesday, the Greek government won a key confidence vote, paving the way for the country to approve additional austerity measures and receive further financial aid. Read more about Greece.
The outcome wiped away fears of an imminent default by the debt-plagued nation, and helped buoy Asian equity markets Wednesday. Read more on Asian stocks.
Still, “investors feared that Greece might find it difficult to implement the austerity drive despite winning the confidence vote,” analysts at ICICI Bank said in a research note.
For now, the broader metals complex traded mostly higher.
Platinum for July delivery PL1N +0.30% gained $6.70 to $1,753.90 an ounce, while September palladium PA1U +0.55% added $5.85 to $773.10.
July copper HG1N -0.32% , however, was down 1.3 cents at $4.08 a pound.
The dollar index DXY -0.01% which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six other major currencies, fell to 74.545, from 74.562 late Tuesday. It had traded as high as 74.866. Read more about currencies.
Demand for gold and other dollar-priced commodities tends to rise as the dollar weakens.
