Gold holds steady amid weaker dollar Gold prices held steady near a one-month high on Thursday as a weaker dollar defied traders’ growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will tighten policy earlier than anticipated. Spot gold was little changed at $1,792.10 per ounce by 0727 GMT. Prices touched their highest since Sept. 16 at $1,795.81 on Wednesday as the dollar and benchmark 10-year U.S. yields fell sharply from recent highs. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,792.60. “The market has been accustomed to tapering news from the FED. Therefore, it will be interesting to see whether tapering concerns will be replaced by stagflation fears as the main driver of gold prices going forward,” said Han Tan, head of market analysis at Exinity. “Gold’s upside, however, could deteriorate as Treasury yields bounce back after the FED officially starts its tapering process,” Han Tan added. U.S. consumer prices rose strongly in September and are likely to rise again amid surging energy prices. That could put pressure on the Fed to act more quickly to normalize policy. Minutes from the Fed’s September meeting suggested the central bank could begin tapering stimulus as early as mid-November. Meanwhile, policymakers are increasingly concerned that high inflation will persist longer than expected. Their focus is divided on how quickly they might need to raise interest rates in response. Gold held steady amid a weaker dollar, with the dollar index down 0.1% today, while benchmark yields began to creep higher. “I expect both the dollar and legacy rates to resume their hikes sooner rather than later, and the gold rally will evaporate as quickly as it began,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market strategist for Asia Pacific at OANDA. News of central bank tapering and rate hikes tends to push Treasury yields higher, which is seen as a higher chance of gold not paying interest later. Spot silver rose 0.3% to $23.13 an ounce, platinum rose 0.7% to $1,027.15, and pandelia rose 1.7% to $2,141.84.