April 29 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose on Thursday bolstered
by the U.S. Federal Reserve's pledge to maintain easy monetary
policy to aid economic recovery, while a weaker dollar provided
further support.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was up 0.2% at $1,784.94 per ounce by
0101 GMT, having dipped to $1,762 in the previous session, its
lowest since April 16. U.S. gold futures rose 0.6% to
$1,784.50 per ounce.
* The dollar index edged 0.1% lower against its
rivals, boosting gold's appeal for other currency holders.
* The Federal Reserve held interest rates and its
bond-buying program steady on Wednesday after its two-day policy
meet despite taking a rosier view of the U.S. economic recovery.
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell also said the coming price
increases would almost surely be of a passing nature, and not
present the sort of persistent problem that would force the
central bank to begin raising interest rates sooner than
expected.
* U.S. President Joe Biden plans to unveil a sweeping $1.8
trillion package for families and education in his first speech
to Congress.
* Gold tends to benefit from widespread stimulus measures
from central banks because it is viewed as a hedge against
inflation.
* Meanwhile, the U.S. trade deficit in goods jumped to a
record high in March, suggesting trade was a drag on economic
growth in the first quarter, but that was likely offset by
robust domestic demand amid massive government aid.
* Autocatalyst metal palladium edged up 0.3% to
$2,936.10 per ounce, having scaled an all-time peak of $2,962.50
on Tuesday.
* Silver gained 0.6% to $26.34 per ounce. Platinum
was up 0.3% at $1,222.93.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0755 Germany Unemployment Chg, Rate Sa April
0900 EU Consumer Confid. Final April
1200 Germany CPI, HICP Prelim YY April
1230 US GDP Advance Q1
1230 US Initial Jobless Clm Weekly
(Reporting by Shreyansi Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna
Chandra Eluri)
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