Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold inched up 60 cents to close the regular session near $1,779 ahead of the conclusion of the Fed's two-day meeting. The metal then pulled back to nearly $1,767 in electronic trade after the central bank signaled tighter monetary policies ahead.

As expected, the Federal Reserve decided to keep its bond-buying program, known as quantitative easing, unchanged at $120 billion per month for now. However, it indicated that reductions are likely to come "soon" and purchases may end by the middle of next year.

In addition, in their so-called dot plot forecasts, half of the 18 committee members have penciled-in an interest rate increase for 2022, which is earlier than before.

While the markets were broadly prepared for tapering to begin sometime this year, the accelerated schedule for rate hikes was something of a surprise. Jerome Powell softened the hawkish tone in his post-meeting presser, however, by emphasizing that the forecast is "not set in stone" and may flex with ongoing risks to the recovery.

The dollar rose nearly 0.3% on the revised rate outlook, pressuring gold and other commodities by making them more expensive overseas.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields slipped slightly, stemming gold's decline by decreasing the opportunity cost for holding it instead of bonds as a safe-haven asset.

The other precious metals were higher, with silver rising 1.3% while platinum and palladium jumped 5.3% and 7.5%, respectively.

At the Comex close: December gold added 60 cents, to $1,778.80; December silver climbed 30 cents to $22.91; October platinum picked up $50.30 to $1,001.10; and December palladium jumped $141.70 to $2,036.20 an ounce.