Gold prices stabilize ahead of Fed Reserve meeting

Gold prices stabilized today, Dec. 13, with the dollar marginally higher, and in anticipation of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting this week.

Jigar Trivedi, commodities analyst at India's Anand Rathi Shares, confirmed to Reuters that the market is in anticipation of the Federal Reserve's decision on Dec. 15.

He explained that the investment demand is stable despite the concerns due to the Omicron strain, noting that gold may end 2021 at the level of $1,760.

Gold futures contracts for February delivery settled at $1,785 per ounce at 10am Makkah time. Spot price for the yellow metal settled at $1,783.60 per ounce.

Elsewhere, silver futures for March delivery rose 0.2% to reach $22.24 an ounce. Spot price for platinum delivery rose 0.5% to reach $950.65, while palladium gained 1.1% to reach $1,769 per ounce.

The main dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.2% to 96.289 points.