Gold prices moved higher on Monday as an escalation in geopolitical tensions after the drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities over the weekend prompted traders to seek the safe-haven asset.
The yellow metal surged up despite the U.S. dollar gaining in strength ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy statement, due this Wednesday.
Bank of Japan, Bank of England and Swiss National Bank are also scheduled to announce their monetary policies this week.
The dollar index rose to 98.71 and was last seen hovering around 98.65, up by about 0.4% from previous close.
Gold futures for December ended up $12.00, or about 0.8%, at $1,511.50 an ounce.
On Friday, gold futures for December ended down $7.90, or 0.5%, at $1,499.50 an ounce.
Silver futures for December ended up $0.457, at $18.026 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $2.6405 per pound, down $0.0590 from previous close.
The attack on a couple of Saudi’s oil facilities has resulted in a likely drop of 5% in global oil production, the largest-ever single disruption to crude output. The resultant steep jump in oil prices is likely to hurt global growth.
On the U.S. economic front, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report showing New York-area manufacturing activity was little changed in the month of September.
The New York Fed said its general business conditions index dipped to 2.0 in September from 4.8 in August, although a positive reading still indicates an increase in regional manufacturing activity. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 4.0.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com
