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(Bloomberg) — Gold traded near the highest level in two weeks on speculation that the Federal Reserve may be slow to raise interest rates in the world’s biggest economy. Bullion for immediate delivery traded at $1,188.14 an ounce at 9:07 a.m. in Singapore from $1,189.54 on Monday, when prices climbed to $1,191.71, the highest since March 6, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The precious metal advanced 2.1 percent last week, the most since January. Gold rebounded from a three-month low last week as Fed Chair Janet Yellen suggested that policy makers are in no hurry to raise rates, even as the Fed dropped a pledge to be patient on tightening. The dollar weakened on Monday after Stanley Fischer, the U.S. central bank’s vice chairman, said there won’t be a “smooth upward path” for rates, even with the first increase potentially warranted by the end of 2015. Prices may gain support “from the continuation of currency volatility and U.S. dollar weakness in the immediate aftermath of last week’s Fed developments,” Standard Chartered Plc said in a report received on Tuesday. Fed officials on March 18 lowered their estimates for borrowing costs at the end of 2015 to 0.625 percent from December’s estimate of 1.125 percent. Traders had been exiting gold in anticipation of steeper rate gains, which usually send investors to assets with better yield prospects such as stocks. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dropped for a second day on Monday after tumbling 2.2 percent last week, the biggest weekly decline since October 2011. Gold typically trades counter to the U.S. currency. Bullion for April delivery rose 0.1 percent to $1,188.50 an ounce on the Comex, set to rise for a fifth day. Silver for immediate delivery was at $16.9831 an ounce from $16.981. Spot platinum retreated 0.1 percent to $1,145.88 an ounce, while palladium dropped 0.2 percent to $775.75 an ounce.

To contact the reporter on this story: Phoebe Sedgman in Melbourne at psedgman2@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net Jake Lloyd-Smith, Alexander Kwiatkowski