Gold bumped higher by Japanese stimulus commitment

Gold edged higher in Tuesday trading following the Bank of Japan’s announcement that it would pursue heftier stimulus measures to boost the country’s stagnant economy.

BOJ indicated that it would commit itself to open-ended purchase of assets starting in 2014, as part of efforts to raise inflation to 2%

Bullion saw its second day of gains on the news, with spot prices rising 0.1% by 3.29 p.m. EST to hit USD$1,691.24. February gold futures – the most actively traded gold contract – closed up $6.20 at $1,693.20.

Gold still failed to break through the $1,700 threshold, with reports from India that the government had raised its import tax on the precious metal from 4% to 6% mitigating the positive news for gold bugs from Japan.