Gold prices rise ahead of US Fed's meeting minutes release

Gold prices rose ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes.

The price of February gold futures on the New York Comex exchange increased by $35.05 from the previous close, or 0.81%, to $4,378.65 per troy ounce.

March silver futures rose by 4.82% to $73.855 per ounce. The precious metal gained in anticipation of the release later on Tuesday of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's most recent December meeting, following which the regulator cut the key interest rate by 0.25 percentage point to 3.5-3.75%. The document may contain clues about the Fed's future plans.

The next Fed meeting is scheduled for January 27-28. According to CME Group, nearly 84% of analysts expect the Fed to keep its key interest rate unchanged. The Fed's decision is reflected in financial markets, including gold futures trading.