Gold Hits Four-Week High As Dollar Weakens

Gold rose to its highest in four weeks on Thursday as the U.S. dollar retreated from a 14-year peak touched earlier this week. 

FUNDAMENTALS 

-Spot gold was up 0.4 percent at $1,167.98 an ounce by 0032 GMT. It earlier hit its highest since Dec. 9 at $1,169.52. 

-U.S. gold futures climbed 0.3 percent to $1,168.70 per ounce. 

-The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell 0.5 percent to 102.170. 

-Almost all Federal Reserve policymakers thought the U.S. economy could grow more quickly because of fiscal stimulus under the Trump administration and many were eyeing faster interest rate increases, minutes from the central bank's December meeting showed. 

-Businesses across the euro zone ended 2016 by ramping up activity at the fastest pace for 5-1/2 half years, a survey showed on Wednesday, as a weaker currency boosted demand for their goods and services in December. 

-Japanese manufacturing activity expanded at the quickest pace in a year in December as orders picked up, a private survey showed on Wednesday, in an encouraging sign that the struggling economy may be regaining momentum. 

-Gold imports to Turkey rose to 36.7 tonnes in December, up from 4.65 tonnes in the same period a year earlier, their highest monthly level in just over two years, data from the Istanbul bourse showed on Wednesday. 

-The Perth Mint's sales of gold products rose in December, while silver sales more than halved, the mint said in a blog post on its website on Wednesday. 

-Holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, have dropped about 14 percent since the U.S. presidential election in November. They were unchanged on Wednesday at 813.87 tonnes. 

MARKET NEWS 

-Oil prices were firm on Thursday, buoyed by data showing a fall in U.S. crude inventories and by record car sales in the United States. 

-Asian stocks edged higher on Thursday, underpinned by a firm Wall Street.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)