WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices inched higher as stocks remained volatile after yesterday's hawkish remarks from the Federal Reserve.
The Federal Reserve now plans to raise rates three times in 2018, 2019 and 2020. That's up from a previous prediction of just two rate hikes in 2019.
April gold settles at $1,327.40/oz, up $5.90, or 0.5%, the highest in two weeks.
The Bank of England decided to keep its key interest rate unchanged, but in a split vote as the minority sought immediate tightening citing easing slack and accelerating pay growth.
At the rate-setting meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee, governed by Mark Carney, voted 7-2 to maintain the benchmark rate at 0.50 percent. The bank had previously raised its key rate in November 2017, which was the first hike in a decade.
Traders considered a modest uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended March 17th.
The report said initial jobless claims edged up to 229,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 226,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 225,000.
The Conference Board released a report on Thursday showing a bigger than expected increase by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators.
The Conference Board said its leading economic index climbed by 0.6 percent following a 0.8 percent increase in January. Economists had expected the index to rise by 0.3 percent.
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