Policy: Policy Makers and Rate Hikes

policy: The gains came after minutes from the central bank's Dec. 13-14 meeting out Wednesday showed Fed officials are grappling with considerable uncertainty about the possible impact on the U.S. economy of President-elect Donald Trump's fiscal stimulus plans, according to Market Watch. Investors appear to be pulling back on their hopes for a more aggressive pace of rate hikes after Fed policy makers pointed to a number of risks that, if realized, might call for a different path of policy than the currently expected, according to the minutes. Gold for February delivery GCG7, -0.71% gained 16, or 1.4%, to settle at 1,181.30 an ounce its highest settlement since Nov. 29, according to Fact Set data. Like many of us, the Fed has no clear idea yet of what exactly is going to be implemented and to what extent it will impact economic growth, employment and inflation, said FXTM Chief Market Strategist Hussein Sayed, in an emailed note. It's obvious that the increase of expected interest-rate hikes in 2017 from two to three was largely based on the unknown.' Hussein Sayed, FXTM Higher interest rates can be a negative for gold, which tends to benefit from looser monetary policy. However, it has become obvious that the increase of expected interest-rate hikes in 2017 from two to three was largely based on the unknown. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.