LONDON: Gold rose one per cent on Thursday as the Bank of Japan held off from expanding monetary stimulus, boosting the yen versus the dollar, and after the Federal Reserve signalled that it was in no rush to tighten monetary policy.

The Fed left interest rates unchanged after its latest meeting on Wednesday and, while keeping the door open to a hike in June, showed little sign it was in a hurry to tighten policy amid an apparent slowdown in the US economy.

Spot gold was up 0.8pc at $1,256.50 an ounce at 1400 GMT, off an earlier one-week high of $1,258.70, while US gold futures for June delivery were up $7.80 an ounce at $1,258.20.

“The Fed in the end was dovish when a slightly more hawkish message was expected, so that was supportive for gold, while the Bank of Japan clearly wrong-footed the market,” Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar said. “The uncertainty factor is helping gold in dollar terms.”

Among other precious metals, silver was up 0.8pc at $17.35 an ounce, platinum was up 2pc at $1,043.45 an ounce and palladium was up 1.5 at $616.80 an ounce.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2016