Gold prices rise as greenback retreats

“Despite expectations for strong dollar demand for settlement purposes, the US currency drew only moderate purchases”, a currency broker said.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.08%, S&P 500 futures added 0.08%, and Nasdaq futures increased 0.1%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1 percent.

The Fed is widely expected to announce on Wednesday that it will begin paring its bond holdings, with reductions likely to start in the coming months.

The three major USA stock indexes edged higher overnight, logging closing records, with financial stocks providing the biggest boost a day ahead of the Federal Reserve’s concluding statement from its two-day policy meeting. After leaving the rate at a record low for seven years after the 2008 crisis, the Fed has modestly raised it four times since December 2015 to a still-low range of 1 percent to 1.25 percent.

“The biggest risk for the dollar is… if they cast doubt on a December rate hike”, Manimbo said.

Investors will be keeping a close watch on the USA central bank as policymakers have to deal with the fallout from hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which hammered the country and are expected to hit economic growth.

Traders seemed to be bracing for an on balance dovish message from the Fed, even though the market still expected a rate hike at the end of the year to be more likely than not.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis hinted on Monday about the existence of military options on North Korea that might spare Seoul from a brutal counterattack.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index.GSPTSE closed up 63.64 points, or 0.42 percent, at 15,236.67, its highest close since August 8.

In commodity markets, metals shifted lower and oil prices steadied near last week’s multi-month highs.

Attention will be also paid to Trump’s speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, where leaders from all over the world will gather to discuss options on how to discourage North Korea’s threatening nuclear programs.

US crude oil prices CLc1 edged up 2 cents to settle at $49.91 a barrel, after hovering near multimonth highs. It was also up 21.2 percent since the start of the year.

The pound slipped to $1.3570 after it touched a one-year high of $1.3615 on Friday.

In commodities, oil prices rose after Iraq’s oil minister said OPEC and other crude producers were considering extending or even deepening a supply cut to curb a global glut, while a report showed a smaller-than-expected increase in USA inventories.

At the time of writing the AUD USD exchange rate was trending around 0.8006 and the USD AUD exchange rate was trending around 1.2485. Brent crude, used to price global oils, was up $1.13, or 2 percent, to $56.27 a barrel in London.

The greenback held steady against the euro in the European session, following a 9-day decline to 1.2020 at 9:45 pm ET.