Commodities: Gold, crude oil futures gain in wake of Fed meeting

News that a meeting between several of the world's major oil producers to decide upon a freeze in output would indeed go forward stoked buying interest in crude oil futures.

A more dovish than expected result to the latest Fed policy meeting on Wednesday evening also saw energy futures take another step higher, as did fresh US government data revealing a smaller than expected inventory build in the latest reference week.

US rate-setters now anticipate two more interest rate hikes in 2016, down from the up to four they envisaged at the end of 2015; that was somewhat less than some in the markets had been expecting.

"With US labor market data remaining robust, it is unlikely that the FOMC dots will adjust all the way to market expectations. More likely, the median FOMC dot will fall to either two or three hikes for this year, leaving a gap versus market expectations," UBS strategist Daniel Waldman said in a research note sent to clients before the meeting.

Earlier in the day, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak confirmed that a meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC producers would take place in Doha, on 17 April.

Commercial crude stockpiles grew by 1.3m barrels to reach 523.2m barrels in the week ending on 11 March, according to the Energy Information Administration, the US Department of Energy’s statistical arm.

Analysts had forecast a build of 3.2m barrels.

Natural gas futures for April delivery rose 0.76% to $1.87/MMBtu on the NYMEX.

According to the EIA, in 2016 natural gas was set to surpass coal as the "dominant" source for electricity production for the first time ever.

The Federal Open Market Comittee's decision also provided a fillip for 'gold bugs'.

Gold futures contracts for April jumped 2.53% on COMEX to $1,262.10 per troy ounce as the US dollar backpedaled against the euro, boosting the single currency by 1.07% to 1.1226.

Wheat futures were a weak spot on the Chicago Board of Trade, slipping 1.36% to $470.75 per bushel.