Gold steady ahead of Fed policy meet, platinum nears 5-month high

Gold was little changed on Thursday with investors awaiting the all-important Federal Reserve policy decision, after a German court ruling in favour of the euro zone rescue fund sent bullion to its highest since the end of February.

Spot platinum hovered near a five-month high, as labour strife in top producer South Africa’s mining sector supported sentiment.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold gained $1.41 to $1,732.41 an ounce by 0026 GMT, off a near six-month high of $1,746.20 hit on Wednesday.

* U.S. gold traded little changed at $1,735.

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* The Fed is due to conclude a two-day policy meeting later in the day, with expectations that it will launch a third round of quantitative easing running high.

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* The latest data showed U.S. wholesale inventories in July rose by the most in five months, beating forecasts and suggesting economic growth started the third quarter on slightly better footing than expected.

* Germany’s Constitutional Court gave a green light on Wednesday for the country to ratify the euro zone’s new bailout fund and budget pact, but insisted the German parliament have veto powers over any future increases in the size of the fund.

* Labour unrest in South Africa’s gold and platinum industries continue to grip investors. Machete-wielding strikers forced the world’s No.1 platinum producer Anglo American Platinum to shut down some of its South African operations, sending spot platinum to a five-month high of $1,654.49 in the previous session.

* Spot platinum traded up 0.3 percent to $1,641.50.

* Spot palladium gained 0.7 percent to $675.97, off a four-month high of $680.50 in the previous session.

Reuters