Gold edges up

GOLD prices rose for a third consecutive session yesterday as the dollar weakened on expectations that the US Federal Reserve will maintain a dovish tone at its monetary policy meeting this week.

Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,304.91 per ounce as of 0058 GMT.

US gold futures rose about 0,3 percent to $1,304.70 an ounce.

Spot palladium dipped 0,1 percent to $1,582 an ounce, after registering its highest on record at $1,585.59 in the previous session on sustained supply tightness.

The dollar, which eased marginally against major currencies, traded close to a two-week low posted in the previous session.

Traders currently expect there will be no US rate hikes this year, and are even building in bets for a rate cut in 2020. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak at a news conference today.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plans were thrown into further turmoil on Monday when the speaker of parliament ruled that she could not put her divorce deal to a new vote unless it was re-submitted in a fundamentally different form.

Japan’s exports fell for a third month in February in a sign of growing strain on the trade-reliant economy, suggesting the central bank might be forced to offer more stimulus eventually to temper the effects of slowing external demand and trade frictions.

Japan’s government is expected to keep its view of the economy as “recovering at a moderate pace” in its monthly report for March, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday. — Reuters.