Gold is locked in a relatively narrow range

Gold prices moved in a relatively narrow range on Monday as investors around the world turned their attention to a series of central bank meetings, with particular focus on the Federal Reserve meeting.

Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,931.07 an ounce by 0717 GMT. US gold futures rose 0.1 percent to $1,930.50.

Gold as a non-yielding asset benefits from lower interest rates because it reduces the opportunity cost of holding the yellow metal.

With the Federal Reserve meeting scheduled for Jan. 31-February 1 over, dealers widely expect the Fed to taper interest rate hikes to 25 basis points, compared with 50 basis points in December.

The European Central Bank and Bank of England hold monetary policy meetings this week as well.

In terms of other precious metals, silver rose in spot transactions by 0.8 percent to $ 23.74 an ounce, and platinum rose 0.1 percent to $ 1013.40. Palladium jumped 1.3 percent to $1,639.90.