WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices edged higher on Wednesday, snapping a three-day losing streak, but pared gains after the Federal Reserve raised its forecast for personal consumption expenditures for the current year and 2022.
The Federal Reserve today left interest rates unchanged as widely expected, but signaled it expects two increases by the end of 2023.
The central bank reiterated that its asset purchase program will continue at a $120 billion monthly pace until 'substantial further progress' had been made on employment and inflation.
The dollar index, which moved along the flat line till the Federal Reserve announced its policy, rose sharply to 91.04, gaining 0.55%.
Gold futures for August ended up by $5.00 or about 0.3% at $1,861.40 an ounce.
Silver futures for July ended higher by $0.119 at $27.812 an ounce, while Copper futures for July settled at $4.3850 per pound, up $0.0520 from the previous close.
Data from the Commerce Department showed housing starts jumped by 3.6% to an annual rate of 1.572 million in May after plunging by 12.1% to a revised rate of 1.517 million in April. Economists had expected housing starts to surge by 3.9% to a rate of 1.630 million from the 1.569 million originally reported for the previous month.
A report from the Labor Department said import prices jumped by 1.1% in May after climbing by an upwardly revised by 0.8% in April. The report also said export prices spiked by 2.2% in May after surging by an upwardly revised 1.1% in April. Economists expected both export prices and import prices to move up by 0.8%.
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