Gold futures ticked marginally higher early Monday, finding their footing as the U.S. dollar held steady and investors looked ahead to this week’s Federal Reserve meeting.
Gold for December delivery GC00, 0.33% GCZ21, 0.35% was up 50 cents, or less than 0.1%, at $1,784.40 an ounce on Comex. The precious metal, based on the most-active contract, ended Friday with a weekly decline of 0.7%, according to Dow Jones Market Data, but rose 1.5% in October — the strongest monthly advance since July.
Gold was pressured last week as the dollar rallied. A stronger dollar can be a negative for gold and other commodities priced in the unit, making them more expensive to users of other currencies.
The Federal Reserve, in a two-day meeting set to conclude Wednesday, is expected to announce plans to begin tapering its monthly bond buys.
“Inflation continues to worry central bank officials, with lingering supply chain issues and high energy prices making a protracted rise in consumer prices more likely than previously thought,” said Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades, in a note.