Gold rises cautiously with Fed meeting in focus

Gold prices rose on Monday, rebounding from a 1-week low, as the US dollar fell against its peers, ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting tomorrow.

Gold prices rose 0.4% to $1,788.16 an ounce, after opening at $1,780.82, and hit a high of $1,779.06.

Gold closed lower by 0.8% on Friday, and hit a 1-week low of $1,771.86 an ounce, after strong personal consumption data in the US.

Gold prices gained 1.5% last month, the first monthly gain in 3 months, after the US Federal Reserve's meeting, thanks to improved demand levels in China and India, and strong safe-haven demand.

On Monday, the dollar index fell by about 0.1%, to give up its highest level in three weeks at 94.31 points, reflecting the halt in the rise of the US currency levels against a basket of major and minor currencies, which is in favor of the rise in gold and other metals prices denominated in the US dollar.

The Fed is expected to tighten its monetary policy this week and cut the bonds purchases program before moving on to hiking interest rates next year.

Gold stocks at the SPDR ETF remained unchanged on Friday, with the total at 982.14 metric tonnes.