(RTTNews) - The price of gold dipped to a 2-month low Wednesday morning after the Federal Reserve said that the inflation expectations remaining subdued.
The Federal Reserve in a statement yesterday acknowledged that labor market conditions have continued to improve, although noted that unemployment remains elevated despite falling to 8.3 percent. The policy maker said the housing sector continued to remain depressed.
Gold for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, lost $34.70 to $1,659.50 an ounce. Yesterday, gold closed lower for a second session as investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve policy meeting outcome. Markets also weighed in some positive economic data from both the U.S. and Europe, while the dollar strengthened against the euro and a basket of six major currencies.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved down to 1,293.27 tons from 1,293.68 tons.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was hovering near a monthly high versus the euro and the Swiss franc, while ticking higher against sterling and extending its 11-month high versus the yen
In economic news, industrial production in the 17-nation currency bloc rose 0.2 percent month-on-month in January, Eurostat said. The increase came in weaker than the expected 0.5 percent rise, but it rebounded from December's 1.1 percent fall. Separately, the agency said that consumer prices rose by 0.5% from January, and were up 2.7% from February 2011. The annual rate of inflation was in line with its preliminary estimate, while the figure for January was revised up to 2.7% from 2.6%
Elsewhere, U.K. jobless claims increased more than expected in February, the Office for National Statistics said. The number of people claiming Job-seeker's Allowance rose by 7,200 from a month ago to 1.61 million in February. Economists had expected only an increase of 5,000. At the same time, the claimant count rate remained unchanged at 5 percent, in line with forecast.
The prices of silver and platinum were moving lower in morning deals.
