WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices climbed higher on Monday as a slightly weak dollar, and somewhat sluggish U.S. stock market pushed up the demand for the safe-haven asset, ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting.
The Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting ends on Wednesday, with investors looking for clues on the timing of its first interest rate hike since December 2018.
The Fed is likely to leave interest rates unchanged but could announce plans to begin scaling back its asset purchase program.
The dollar index dropped to 93.93, down 0.21% from the previous close.
Gold futures for December ended higher by $11.90 or about 0.7% at $1,795.80 an ounce.
Silver futures for December closed up by $0.124 at $24.073 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $4.3790 per pound, up $0.0200 from the previous close.
A report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed a modest slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of October.
The ISM said its manufacturing index edged down to 60.8 in October from 61.1 in September. Economists had expected the index to dip to 60.5.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a report showing construction spending in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of September, falling by 0.5% to an annual rate of $1.574 trillion after inching up by 0.1% to a revised rate of $1.582 trillion in August.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) holds its monthly policy meeting on Tuesday and speculation is rife that it will signal an earlier hike in cash rates
On Thursday, the Bank of England is scheduled to announce its policy. Market participants are pricing in a rate hike to curb inflation but economists narrowly predict no change.
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