Gold futures rise ahead of Fed meeting

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose Monday ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting. The most active gold contract for August delivery rose 6.9 U.S. dollars, or 0.52 percent, to settle at 1,328.4 dollars per ounce. The U.S. central bank is expected to announce its monetary policy at the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting that will start on Tuesday. Market analysts believe that the U.S. central bank will keep the monetary policy steady at present, though some take it that chances are large for the Fed to scale back its assets purchase in September. The gold market will embrace a cluster of economic data releases this week: U.S. second-quarter gross domestic product on Wednesday, China manufacturing data and the U.S. unemployment rate on Friday. The European Central Bank and the Bank of England will also make their monetary-policy decisions this week. Gold prices rose 2.2 percent last week and nearly 9 percent in the past three weeks. However, market analysts hold that the rebound in gold in recent weeks is temporary, and that gold prices may fall to 1,000 dollars an ounce by 2015. Silver for September delivery climbed 9.3 cents, or 0.47 percent, to close at 19.864 dollars per ounce. Platinum for October delivery gained 19.9 dollars, or 1.4 percent, to close at 1,442.7 dollars per ounce.