Gold prices are rising as investors focus on Fed meeting

Gold prices rose on Tuesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s meeting amid growing expectations that it will slow the pace of its monetary tightening in light of the banking sector’s turmoil.

Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,982.29 an ounce by 0546 GMT. US gold futures jumped 0.1 percent to $1,984.30.

CME’s Videowatch tool indicates that markets expect 26.9 percent that the Federal Reserve will stick to its position at the end of its scheduled meeting on March 21-22 and raise interest by 50 basis points, while it expects 73.1 percent that it will raise it by 25 basis points.

Gold is considered a safe haven in times of financial uncertainty and low-interest rates make non-yielding bullion more attractive as it reduces the opportunity cost of holding them.

Amid volatile transactions on Monday, gold prices fell 1 percent at first, but reversed course, jumping to their highest levels since March 2022 to $ 2009.59, after investors understood the impact of measures taken by several central banks to contain a banking crisis and stabilize global financial markets.

UBS agreed to buy rival Credit Suisse on Sunday for $3.23 billion in a merger deal crafted by Swiss authorities, which led to the sale of the banks’ shares.

With regard to other precious metals, spot silver rose 0.2 percent to $22.57 an ounce, platinum fell 0.2 percent to $986.53, and palladium rose 0.2 percent to $1417.54.