Gold trades near one-month high as BOJ announces stimulus plan

London, Jan 22. Gold today traded near the highest price in a month as investors weighed planned stimulus by the Bank of Japan against higher import duties in India. Gold rose 0.1 per cent to USD 1,691.65 an ounce. Prices reached a four-week high of USD 1,696.28 on January 17. US financial markets were shut for a public holiday yesterday. However, silver lost 0.1 per cent to USD 31.96 an ounce, after reaching USD 32.12, the highest since December 18. The BOJ said today it will buy about USD 146 billion in assets per month from January 2014 and set a 2 per cent inflation target. Investors expected bolder action now, said senior currency strategists at Royal Bank of Scotland Group. India raised taxes on gold imports to reduce record current-account deficit and moderate demand. “India has been a big buyer of gold in the past month, ahead of this announcement, and I doubt it will affect the market in a big way,” head of precious metals at Marex Spectron Group in London said, referring to the hike in duty. India, the biggest bullion consumer in 2011, raised import duties on the metal and platinum to 6 per cent immediately from 4 per cent. Gold rallied for a twelveth year in 2012, the longest run of gains in at least nine decades, as central banks from the US to China pledged more action to bolster economies.