Metals Stocks: Gold rises, tries to regain grip on $1,300 level http://ift.tt/2yi0WIS

Gold futures rose Thursday, pushing the yellow metal toward $1,300 as investors read minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September policy meetings as slightly dovish, offering a lift to the commodity.

December gold

GCZ7, +0.65%

was $8.80, or 0.7%, higher at $1,297, flirting with its highest settlement since Sept. 26 at $1,301.70, according to FactSet data. The exchange-traded SPDR Gold Shares

GLD, +0.32%

 rose 0.2%.

An account of the most recent meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, released after gold futures settled on Wednesday, showed signs that policy makers questioned the need for an interest-rate hike in December—though one appears likely—as levels of inflation continued to track below the central bank’s 2% annual target.

Although the market’s reaction was relatively subdued, the minutes suggest that Chairwoman Janet Yellen and other policy makers will increase interest rates once more in December, but that efforts to normalize policy will otherwise run at a gradual pace.

A measured rate of interest-rate increases can be supportive for gold, which doesn’t offer a yield. Wall Street is pricing in an 83% chance of a rate increase in December, compared with a nearly 88% probability the day before, according to CME Group data.

Meanwhile, a popular dollar gauge, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index

DXY, +0.14%

was trading flat at 93.029. Gold prices are on track to climb for four of the past five sessions, as the dollar has weakened 0.8% over the week. A softer buck can make commodities priced in the currency more appealing to buyers using weaker monetary units.

Elsewhere, silver for December delivery

SIZ7, +0.62%

added 12 cents, or 0.7%, to trade at $17.255 an ounce, and is on track to rise five of the past six sessions. The silver-focused ETF, the iShares Silver Trust

SLV, +0.62%

was little changed.

Mark O’Byrne, research director at GoldCore Ltd, said recent gains can also be attributed to expected seasonally stronger demand for gold by India heading into the Diwali holiday, or Deepavali, as well as geopolitical tensions tied to North Korea, the Middle East and U.S. President Donald Trump. Tensions between Iraq and Kurds in the region have escalated after a Kurdish independence referendum, while Trump’s belligerent rhetoric with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has had investors on edge.

“Against this global macro backdrop, I do think that we possible we will push $1,400 [an ounce], and then close above $1,300 by year-end,” he said.