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By Bloomberg

Gold rose as prices that fell to a two-week low spurred purchases and investors assessed a decision by U.S. policy makers to drop a pledge to keep borrowing costs low for a “considerable time.” Silver, platinum and palladium climbed.

Bullion for immediate delivery advanced as much as 1 percent to $1,202.08 an ounce, and traded at $1,201.11 at 2:49 p.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal fell yesterday to $1,183.89, the lowest since Dec. 1, as the Federal Reserve, which has held the benchmark lending rate near zero since December 2008, moved closer to raising it for the first time since 2006.

Gold remains on course to snap two weeks of gains as slumping energy prices threaten to push inflation further below the Fed’s 2 percent target. While data yesterday showed that U.S. consumer prices rose 1.3 percent, the smallest gain since February with oil at five-year lows, other economic reports including payrolls and retail sales backed the case for higher borrowing costs.

“We could see some buying interest below $1,200,” said Lv Jie, an analyst at Cinda Futures Co. in Hangzhou, China. “The Fed’s statement resulted in a stronger dollar and higher U.S. stocks, both of which are bearish for gold.”

Chair Janet Yellen said the Fed is unlikely to move before the end of April after policy makers replaced the considerable- time pledge with a promise to be “patient.” That sent the Bloomberg Dollar Index toward a five-year high and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index up by the most since October 2013.

Russian Crisis

While the Fed’s statement made no reference to the Russian currency crisis or other global risks that have roiled financial markets, Yellen said the potential spillover from Russia on the U.S would be small. The ruble fell to a record this week even as the Russian central bank raised interest rates, spurring speculation that the country may sell some of its gold reserves.

Gold for February delivery climbed 0.5 percent to $1,200.10 an ounce on the Comex in New York, reversing a drop of as much as 0.5 percent. Futures declined yesterday to $1,182, the lowest since Dec. 1. Assets in the SPDR Gold Trust, the largest exchange-traded product backed by bullion, were unchanged yesterday after a two-day contraction.

Silver for immediate delivery added 2 percent to $16.0697 an ounce, after prices rose 0.2 percent yesterday, rebounding from a three-day, 8 percent tumble that was the most since September 2013.

Spot platinum advanced 1.1 percent to $1,206.88 an ounce, halting six days of losses that was the longest slump since August. Palladium gained 1.2 percent to $787.75 an ounce, halting a four-day decline.