Spot gold has gained over 3 percent so far this month. "Supporting gold is the double whammy of lower dollar and the (Fed decision on) US interest rates," said ABN AMRO analyst Georgette Boele. Late on Wednesday, the Fed offered no alterations to its interest rate outlook, instead stating that the case for further rate increments had "weakened" in recent weeks. Gold tends to rise on expectations of lower interest rates, which reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
On the technical front, "resistance for short term should be $1,330. If gold exceeds that, the market can expect to see $1,350 very soon," said Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals in Hong Kong. Global demand for gold rose 4 percent last year, helped by a surge in central bank purchases to their highest levels since 1967, the World Gold Council said.
Elsewhere, palladium gained 1.5 percent to $1,382, while platinum rose 0.5 percent to $818.65. Silver rose 0.2 percent to $16.09, having hit its highest since July 2018, at $16.12, earlier in the session.