Gold continued its winning streak, which has lasted for the seventh consecutive day, as the minutes of the Fed unexpectedly gave a signal that the central bank may take additional steps to stimulate the economy.

Recall that the price of gold has more than doubled, after the first time the Fed has resorted to quantitative easing in late 2008.

Minutes of the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee showed that the central bank is likely to begin another round of stimulus fairly soon.

According to analysts, while the prospect of additional stimulus may have a positive impact on the value of gold in the short term, the key indicators, such as consumer spending, the level of production or employment, have grown since the last Fed meeting, indicating the stabilization of economic growth and, Thus, the increase in gold prices may be limited.

Gold futures rose today after data showed that the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, suggesting that the recovery in the labor market is too slow to cause a decline in the unemployment rate.

Despite the high degree of uncertainty among investors in recent weeks, demand for gold has not diminished.

Reserves of gold in exchange-traded funds reached a record 71.24 million ounces, up more than 600,000 ounces this week, showing at the same time the largest weekly increase since the beginning of February.

The cost of the August gold futures on the COMEX is now 1671.7 dollars per ounce.