Investing.com – Gold futures rallied on Tuesday, climbing above the psychologically important USD1,800-an-ounce-level after Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans said the Fed needed to be more aggressive in its easing policies.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery traded at USD1,831.85 a troy ounce during U.S. morning trade, rallying 2.31%.
It earlier rose as much as 2.46% to trade at a daily high of USD1,833.35 a troy ounce.
Chicago Fed President Evans said earlier that the central bank should consider introducing further easing measures unless the economy shows “significant” improvement.
Evans said that the Fed’s bond-buying program, known as quantitative easing “needs to stay in place until unemployment drops below 7% or if inflation gets past 3%”.
"I think we need to do more. Strong accommodation needs to be in place for a substantial period of time," Evans added.
The dovish comments came ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s August 9 policy setting meeting, at which it pledged to keep its benchmark interest rate at an all-time low “at least through mid-2013.”
Investors hope the minutes will provide clues regarding further easing measures after Fed Chair Ben Bernanke said Friday that there was no need for an immediate round of additional economic stimulus but left options open.
Gold futures found further support after a report from the Conference Board showed that U.S. consumer confidence fell by 14.7 points to 44.5 in August, the lowest since August 2009. Analysts had expected the index to decline to 52.2 in August.
The report showed that the Present Situation Index decreased to 33.3 from 35.7, while Consumer Expectations Index tumbled 23 points to 51.9 from 74.9 last month.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery jumped 1.6% to trade at USD41.62 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery rose 1.02% to trade USD4.156 a pound.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery traded at USD1,831.85 a troy ounce during U.S. morning trade, rallying 2.31%.
It earlier rose as much as 2.46% to trade at a daily high of USD1,833.35 a troy ounce.
Chicago Fed President Evans said earlier that the central bank should consider introducing further easing measures unless the economy shows “significant” improvement.
Evans said that the Fed’s bond-buying program, known as quantitative easing “needs to stay in place until unemployment drops below 7% or if inflation gets past 3%”.
"I think we need to do more. Strong accommodation needs to be in place for a substantial period of time," Evans added.
The dovish comments came ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s August 9 policy setting meeting, at which it pledged to keep its benchmark interest rate at an all-time low “at least through mid-2013.”
Investors hope the minutes will provide clues regarding further easing measures after Fed Chair Ben Bernanke said Friday that there was no need for an immediate round of additional economic stimulus but left options open.
Gold futures found further support after a report from the Conference Board showed that U.S. consumer confidence fell by 14.7 points to 44.5 in August, the lowest since August 2009. Analysts had expected the index to decline to 52.2 in August.
The report showed that the Present Situation Index decreased to 33.3 from 35.7, while Consumer Expectations Index tumbled 23 points to 51.9 from 74.9 last month.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery jumped 1.6% to trade at USD41.62 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery rose 1.02% to trade USD4.156 a pound.