Gold prices near $ 1,700 an ounce

Spot gold price at auction on Friday continues to stay below $ 1,700 an ounce, seeking a third consecutive weekly decline, as investors await progress in the negotiations on the budget of the United States.

U.S. President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Beyner met again on Thursday to address the "budget cliff" - raise taxes and cut spending by $ 600 billion, which will come into force in early 2013, if the politicians do not come to other agreements, and can push the world's largest economy into recession.

This year, the gold price will rise 12 th consecutive year, mainly due to the easing of central banks. The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday directly linked its policy with unemployment and inflation, and announced that it would continue buying long-term Treasury bonds of maturities of $ 45 billion a month, as well as mortgage-backed securities by $ 40 billion a month.

Last month, U.S. inflation slowed more than expected amid falling energy prices, confirming that the level of CPI in the country is under control.

In November, the consumer price index fell 0.3% - the first time since May - against 0.1% the previous month, as reported today by the Ministry of Labor in Washington. Economists expected a more modest decline (-0.2%). Net CPI, which does not include volatile components such as food and energy, rose less than forecast.

Faced with little threat of inflation, this week's Federal Reserve policy expanded the program of asset purchases, based on the reduction of unemployment and stimulate economic growth.

February futures price of gold on COMEX today is trading in the range of 1694.00 - 1701.90 dollars per ounce.