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Gold bounced back on Monday, inching closer to last week's 13-month high, ahead of crucial policy meetings at the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan that are likely to provide direction to the yellow metal.

Spot gold had risen 0.6 percent to $1,255.30 an ounce by 0643 GMT

Japan’s negative interest rates are boosting demand for gold, according to the nation’s biggest bullion retailer.

International prices have rallied 18 percent this year as investors seek a haven from financial market turmoil. For individual investors, the Bank of Japan’s surprise move in January is adding to gold’s allure, according to Takahiro Ito, chief manager at Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.’s store in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district. That’s helped lift retail prices to their highest since July.

“Many customers are wagering that it’s better to turn their savings to gold as a safe asset rather than deposit money at banks that offer low interest rates,” he said in a phone interview last week.

Consumer demand in Japan rose to 32.8 metric tons in 2015 from 17.9 tons a year earlier, making it the seventh largest consumer in Asia, according to the World Gold Council.

The move to gold among retail investors is showing up elsewhere. In the U.K., online trading service BullionVault said on March 1 the number of new customers more than doubled in February, reaching the highest since April 2013.

“Worsening fears over negative rates and political risks like Brexit have led the return of some money managers to gold,” Adrian Ash, head of research at the firm said in a report. “A fast-growing number of private investors have also begun buying gold as insurance.”