Gold surges

Bengaluru: Gold prices rose to their highest in two weeks on Thursday amid a muted dollar, after minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve´s September policy meeting revealed low inflation concerns.

Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,294.29 an ounce by 0338 GMT, after earlier marking its best since Sept. 27 at $1295.45. U.S. gold futures for December delivery climbed 0.6 percent to $1,296.50 per ounce. "Gold prices rose slightly as the market appeared to take the Fed minutes as slightly dovish. In particular, it was the comments on persistently low inflation that seemed to gain much attention. This saw the US dollar weaken slightly, increasing investor appetite for the precious metal," ANZ analysts said in a note. Fed policymakers had a prolonged debate about the prospects of a pickup in inflation and slowing the path of future interest rate rises if it did not, according to the minutes of the U.S. central bank´s last policy meeting on Sept. 19-20 released on Wednesday.