Gold gained in Asia on Monday with key central bank meeting in the week ahead to set the tone. Gold for June delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 0.29% to $1,233.55 a troy ounce. Silver futures for May delivery rose 0.83% to $17040 a troy ounce. Copper future eased 0.02% to $2.268 a pound. Markets in Australia will remain closed for the Anzac day holiday. In the week ahead, investors will also be focusing on the outcome of Wednesday's Fed meeting for clues on the path of future interest rate increases. On Thursday, the Bank of Japan will announce its latest policy views. Last week, gold prices fell on Friday as the stronger dollar and expectations that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates earlier pressured the precious metal lower. Speculation that the Fed could raise interest rates sooner than expected also weighed on gold after data on Thursday showing that U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level in 43 years last week. Lower interest rates tend to help gold, as the metal pays its holders nothing, but it struggles to compete with yield-bearing investments when interest rates rise. Gold prices posted their strongest quarterly gains in 30 years in the first quarter of 2016 as global growth concerns and investor uneasiness about negative-interest-rate policies in Japan and Europe bolstered investor appetite for bullion.
