Gold inches up on Fed rate cut cheer

Gold prices edged higher on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates as expected, even as the central bank dropped a previous reference in its statement that signaled future rate cuts.

Spot gold rose 0.3 percent to $1,499.06 per ounce as of 0137 GMT. US gold futures inched 0.3 percent higher to $1,501.40 per ounce.

The US central bank on Wednesday cut interest rates for the third time this year to help sustain growth despite a slowdown in other parts of the world, but signaled there would be no further reductions unless the economy takes a turn for the worse.

Elsewhere, gold consumption in China, the world's top producer and consumer of the precious metal, fell 9.58 percent year-on-year to 768.31 tons in the first nine months of 2019, China Gold Association said on Wednesday.