- Spot gold hits highest price since June 4
- US Treasury to double sizes of some debt buyback operations
- US dollar index down 0.8%, yields head lower
- Fed policy meeting minutes due at 1800 GMT
Aug 19 (Reuters) - Gold surged over 3% to its highest in over two and a half months on Wednesday after a surprise liquidity support announcement by the U.S. Treasury knocked down bond yields and the dollar ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's July meeting minutes.
Spot gold climbed 3.7% to $4,496.39 per ounce by 12.09 p.m. EDT (1609 GMT) after touching its highest level since June 4 at $4,498.69 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures increased 3% to $4,555.10.
On the technical front, spot gold broke above its 100-day moving average of around $4,381.
"This was totally unexpected. Very bullish for gold due to lower yields on longer-dated Treasuries and as it may help to bring the dollar lower," said Robert Gottlieb, an industry expert and former head of precious metals at Koch Supply and Trading.
The U.S. dollar index (.DXY), opens new tab fell 0.8%, making dollar-priced gold less expensive for holders of other currencies.
Yields on 30-year U.S. Treasuries fell sharply on Wednesday from around their highest level in 19 years after the U.S. Treasury Department said it would double the size of liquidity support buyback operations for longer-dated bonds.
TD Securities said in a note the U.S. Treasury's announcement that it is increasing the size of liquidity support buyback operations has given metals a "jolt of life."
"While the fierce bid has faded in recent days, the (gold investment) flows could quickly return amid Treasury liquidity support, a Fed willing to look through an energy shock, and a growing stagflation narrative, which should all ultimately see lower real rates," the TD Securities note said.
Expectations that the Fed will hold rates steady at its September 15-16 meeting stand at 65%, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, after recent weak U.S. economic data dampened bets for a hike. FEDWATCH/
The U.S. central bank is scheduled to release the minutes of its last policy meeting at 1800 GMT.
Among other metals, spot silver rallied 4.3% to $66.03 per ounce, platinum rose 5% to $1,798.33 and palladium advanced 3.1% to $1,329.33.
Reporting by Sumit Saha and Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Paul Simao, Philippa Fletcher and Nia Williams
Source: Reuters