By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Gold was up on Friday morning in Asia and was poised for a weekly gain. Investors were also able to digest the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The price of $1,794.65 climbed 0.06% by 11:58 ET (03:58 GMT) and it was poised for its second weekly rise in three weeks with an increase of 0.7%.

It kept the interest rate at 0.10% and issued its decision Thursday. Investors had been expecting that BOE will be the central bank to increase interest rates following the outbreak COVID-19. This surprise came as a shock to them.

A day earlier, the said that it would begin asset tapering, but remain “patient” on interest rate hikes as it handed down its own decision. The group also maintained its belief that inflationary pressures will be temporary.

The European Central Bank, (ECB), added their voice to the dovish chorus. Isabel Schnabel (ECB member) stated that the bank was aware of concerns over high inflation but it would not increase interest rates until 2022.

Benchmark fell from the peak one-week ago, which also lends support to yellow metal.

Meanwhile, a smaller-than-expected 269,000 initial jobless claims were filed during the past week, data released on Thursday showed. Investors are now awaiting the U.S. Jobs Report, including Non-farm Payrolls, later today.

In Asia Pacific, Japan’s household spending contracted 1.9% year-on-year in September, data released earlier in the day showed. The month-on-month growth was 5%.

The other precious metals saw silver rise 0.3% and platinum increase 0.2%. Palladium gained 0.4%.