By Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Gold futures rebounded in electronic trading on Tuesday, breaking through $1,700 an ounce ahead of an interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve.
Gold for April delivery GCJ2 +0.20% added $3.80, or 0.2%, to $1,703.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange during Asian trading hours.
The metal had slipped to close 0.7% lower in the North American session on Monday, breaking a three-session winning streak. Read more on Monday's metals session.
Attention is focused on the outcome of a two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting, with investors alert for any change in the central bank’s easing stance.
The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to release its statement on Tuesday and recent strength in U.S. economic data has diluted expectations of further quantitative easing measures.
“If there are no announced changes to the Fed program, then the Fed statement is unlikely to have any obvious implications for the U.S. dollar,” HSBC analyst James Steel said in a research note.
“This would also mean that the FOMC meeting is likely to have little effect on gold,” Steel added.
The broader metals complex traded mixed during Asian trading.
Silver for May delivery SIK2 +0.92% added 37 cents, or 1.1%, to $33.78 an ounce and May copper HGK2 +0.87% gained 3 cents, or 0.7%, to $3.87 a pound.
April platinum PLJ2 -0.10% edged up 30 cents to finish at $1,696.00 an ounce, while sister metal palladium for June delivery PAM2 -0.41% lost 45 cents, or 0.1%, to $703.80 an ounce.
