Gold prices fall by $19 post Powell’s comments

Gold prices fell today, Jan. 27, with the US dollar rising to a five-week high, after the Federal Reserve's meeting, which expected to end asset purchases in March.

Fed Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, said that officials have not made any decisions on the course of monetary policy, but confirmed the bank's readiness to raise interest rates in March.

Gold futures contracts for April delivery fell 1.03%, or $18.80, to reach $1,813.20 per ounce at 09:50am Makkah time. Spot price for the yellow metal fell 0.5% to reach $1,810.42 per ounce.

Elsewhere, silver futures for March delivery fell 2.42% to reach $23.23 an ounce. Spot price for platinum delivery fell 1.67% to reach $1,018.65, while palladium declined 0.78% to reach $2,314.28 per ounce.

The main dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.23% to reach 96.697 points.

The US GDP data for Q4 2021 is scheduled to be released later today, amid expectations of a rise of 5.3%, as well as the unemployment claims data from last week, amid expectations of 260,000.