Internationally, gold rose above $1,660 an ounce for the first time since May, following the release of the minutes from the latest U.S. Federal Reserve meeting which clearly hinted at a fresh round of quantitative easing in the US.

Easing hopes sparked fresh buying in gold, which is the perfect hedge against rising prices. Easing programmes generally result in mild inflation in the economy.

"Many members judged that additional monetary accommodation would likely be warranted fairly soon unless incoming information pointed to a substantial and sustainable strengthening in the pace of the economic recovery," the Fed minutes of its meeting of July 31-Aug 1 revealed.

Along with the Federal Reserve there are hopes of a further stimulus from the European Central Bank to solve problems in the region. Also, there is renewed optimism that the financial crisis in Greece would be resolved soon, following a meeting of the leaders expected today.

Equities rallied alongside gold with most of the Asian markets trading higher and Europe set to open up.

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