Gold futures climbed past $1,170 an ounce in electronic trading Wednesday, extending gains from the regular trading session as the U.S. dollar took a hit in the wake of the Federal Reserve statement, which signaled that the central bank was ready to take modest steps toward rising rates.
April gold GCJ5, +1.71% on Comex settled at $1,151.30 an ounce on Comex, up $3.10, or 0.3%, before the Fed announcement. On Tuesday, prices settled at the lowest level since early November.
May silver SIK5, +2.82% fell 3.7 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $15.541 an ounce for the Comex session, then climbed to $15.935 in electronic trading.
Tokyo (Nikkei Average NIK, -0.54% ) down 0.6%
Hong Kong (Hang Seng Index HSI, +1.29% ) up 1.3%
Shanghai (Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, +0.27% ) up 0.3% (at break)
Sydney (S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +1.71% ) up 1.7%
Seoul (Kospi SEU, +0.45% ) up 0.4%
Mumbai (Sensex 1, +0.72% ) up 0.7%
Taipei (Taiex Y9999, +0.89% ) up 0.9%
The euro and yen maintained their gains against the dollar, while most equity markets outside Japan rallied after comments by the US Federal Reserve cooled expectations of an early summer hike.
While the central bank opened the door for a rise from six years of zero percent rates, it lowered its forecasts for economic growth and inflation and stressed it would remain cautious before making any move.
The news sent US stocks surging, providing a strong platform for regional indexes.
Hong Kong climbed 0.62 per cent, Sydney surged 1.64 per cent and Seoul added 0.24 per cent, while Singapore was up 0.35 per cent.
