Gold gains as Fed takes "patient" stance on rate hike

By Manolo Serapio Jr

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold climbed 1 percent to trade above $1,200 an ounce on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would take a "patient" approach in deciding when to raise interest rates even as the U.S. economy strengthens.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the Fed was unlikely to hike rates for "at least a couple of meetings", meaning April of next year at the earliest.

A hike in U.S. interest rates dims the appeal of non-interest bearing assets such as gold and also pushes the dollar higher. The dollar came off session highs against a basket of currencies on Thursday.

"The Fed statement does not imply an immediate rate hike. I think gold can stabilise between $1,180 and $1,200," said Mark To, head of research at Hong Kong's Wing Fung Financial Group.

Spot gold was up 1 percent at $1,200.56 an ounce by 0650 GMT, just off a session high of $1,201.66. On Wednesday, it fell as far as $1,183.73, its lowest since Dec. 1.

U.S. February gold rose 0.5 percent to $1,200.80 an ounce. Other precious metals also advanced, with spot silver up nearly 2 percent.

Wing Fung's To believes the Fed is on course to hike rates in the middle of 2015, which he said could push gold to its recent low of around $1,130.

Economists at Wall Street's biggest banks remain convinced the Fed will raise interest rates by next June and most expect it to tighten policy more than once in 2015, a Reuters poll found after the U.S. central bank wrapped up a policy meeting on Wednesday.

Thirteen of 19 primary dealers, or the banks that deal directly with the Fed, expect the first rate hike by June, including one forecasting an increase as early as April.

A rebound in gold appetite by top consumers India and China next year should help provide some support to prices, analysts say.

"That puts demand on a better footing and that will offset a lot of the potentially negative sentiment as a result of the Fed raising interest rates," said Victor Thianpiriya, analyst at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.

(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Joseph Radford and Anand Basu)