09:08 AM EDT, 03/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Gold prices rose early on Monday as the dollar and treasury yields were steady ahead of this week's meeting of the Federal Reserve's policy committee.

Gold for April delivery was last seen up US$4.70 to US$2,166.20 per ounce.

The Federal Open Market Committee begins its two-day meeting on Tuesday and is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged even as market pressure to begin lowering rates is on the rise.

"The world stands on the cusp of a new era of interest rate easing, and even though the great and the good of the central bank world procrastinate in ever-decreasing circles, the markets at least believe that the barriers obstructing a loosening of fiscal grip on the monies of the globe are coming to an end," PVM oil brokers noted on its website.

The dollar was mostly steady early, with the ICE dollar index last seen up 0.02 points to 102.46.

The yield on the US two-year note was last seen down 0.2 basis points to 4.734%, while the 10-year note was paying 4.329%, up 1.0 basis points.