Investing.com - Gold prices fell as the dollar posted cautious gains on Tuesday amid demand from investors seeking safe harbor ahead of the Federal Reserve's Wednesday announcement on interest rates and monetary policy.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,343.90 during U.S. afternoon hours, down 0.61%.
Gold prices hit a session low of USD1,340.30 a troy ounce and high of USD1,360.20 a troy ounce.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,310.10 a troy ounce, the low from Oct. 22, and resistance at USD1,361.70, Monday's high.
The December contract settled up 0.16% at USD1,352.50 a troy ounce on Friday.
Many market participants expect the U.S. central bank to keep its USD85 billion monthly asset-purchasing program in place to spur recovery by driving down interest rates, which weakens the dollar and pushes up gold, as the two tend to trade inversely from one another.
Expectations for policy to remain unchanged, now firmly priced into trading, allowed the dollar to rise and gold to dip ahead of time as the market braces to digest the Fed's language on Wednesday.
Soft U.S. economic indicators kept many market participants entrenched in safe-haven dollar positions as well, which watered down gold.
The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence dropped to 71.2 in October from an upwardly revised reading of 80.2 in September.
Analysts were expecting the index to fall to 75.0 this month.
The data came on the heels of Commerce Department data showing that U.S. retail sales fell 0.1% in September, while core retail sales, which exclude transportation items and gasoline, rose 0.4%, both in line with expectations.
Separately, the Labor Department reported that the country's producer price index contracted 0.1% in September, defying gains for a 0.2% gain.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery was down 0.06% at USD22.525 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery was up 0.30% and trading at USD3.279 a pound.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,343.90 during U.S. afternoon hours, down 0.61%.
Gold prices hit a session low of USD1,340.30 a troy ounce and high of USD1,360.20 a troy ounce.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,310.10 a troy ounce, the low from Oct. 22, and resistance at USD1,361.70, Monday's high.
The December contract settled up 0.16% at USD1,352.50 a troy ounce on Friday.
Many market participants expect the U.S. central bank to keep its USD85 billion monthly asset-purchasing program in place to spur recovery by driving down interest rates, which weakens the dollar and pushes up gold, as the two tend to trade inversely from one another.
Expectations for policy to remain unchanged, now firmly priced into trading, allowed the dollar to rise and gold to dip ahead of time as the market braces to digest the Fed's language on Wednesday.
Soft U.S. economic indicators kept many market participants entrenched in safe-haven dollar positions as well, which watered down gold.
The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence dropped to 71.2 in October from an upwardly revised reading of 80.2 in September.
Analysts were expecting the index to fall to 75.0 this month.
The data came on the heels of Commerce Department data showing that U.S. retail sales fell 0.1% in September, while core retail sales, which exclude transportation items and gasoline, rose 0.4%, both in line with expectations.
Separately, the Labor Department reported that the country's producer price index contracted 0.1% in September, defying gains for a 0.2% gain.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery was down 0.06% at USD22.525 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery was up 0.30% and trading at USD3.279 a pound.