Gold falls in price on expectations of increase in US refinancing rate

Gold prices fell slightly since the beginning of the last day of the month, while markets continue to await the decision of the US Federal Reserve System (FRS) on the further value of the refinancing rate, which will be in effect from February, Report informs referring to stock quotes.

The price of February futures for gold on the New York Comex exchange fell by $3.2, or 0.17%, to $1,919.7 per troy ounce. March silver futures fell 0.06% to $23.718 an ounce.

The Fed will announce its monetary policy decisions on February 1. According to the CME Group, 98% of analysts are considering an increase in the discount rate by 0.25 percentage points, to 4.5-4.75% per annum.

Though last year the regulator consistently raised this rate at a higher pace in the fight against high inflation, any further tightening is positive for the dollar and US government debt yields, and therefore negative for the price of gold. At the same time, the very slowdown in the rate of increase, which is likely to take place, leads only to a moderate reduction in the price of the precious metal.