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CHICAGO, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose on Tuesday as U.S. Dollar weakened and traders attempted to gauge U.S. President Donald Trump's impact on the market.
The most active gold contract for March delivery rose 15.3 U.S. dollars, or 1.28 percent, to settle at 1,209.80 dollars per ounce.
Gold was given support as investors are in the process of reacting to the travel ban of seven majority Muslim countries imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Analysts believe that this is likely to negatively impact world leaders' view of the United States and as a result will have an impact on trade.
With this potential downside of U.S. trade in mind, the U.S. Dollar Index fell by 0.76 percent to 99.60 as of 1915 GMT. The index is a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies.
Gold and the dollar typically move in opposite directions, which means if the dollar goes up, gold futures will fall as gold, measured by the dollar, becomes more expensive for investors.
The February Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting began on Tuesday, and will end after the market's close on Wednesday.
Investors believe the Fed may raise rates from 0.75 to 1.00 during the March FOMC meeting at the earliest. According to the CME Group's Fedwatch tool, the current implied probability of a hike from 0.50 to at least 0.75 is at 4 percent at the February meeting and 21 percent for the March meeting.
The precious metal was given further support as the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 124.88 points, or 0.63 percent as of 1915 GMT. Analysts note that when equities post losses, the precious metal usually goes up, as investors are looking for a safe haven, while the opposite is true when U.S. equities post gains.
Silver for March delivery rose 39.1 cents, or 2.28 percent, to close at 17.543 dollars per ounce. Platinum for April delivery added 3 dollars, or 0.30 percent, to close at 996.50 dollars per ounce.
