Gold rises as dollar retreats ahead of Fed meeting
By Jan Harvey
LONDON (Reuters) - Gold rose from the previous day's two-week low on Tuesday as the dollar slipped ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting that is expected to provide more clues on the pace of U.S. monetary tightening.
The dollar fell 0.3 percent against the euro ahead of the two-day talks, with markets awaiting guidance on whether the Fed will signal a further hike in interest rates at its December meeting.
Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,310.51 an ounce at 1345 GMT, off the previous day's low of $1,304.10. U.S. gold futures for December delivery were up $3.20 an ounce at $1,314.00.
"Investors have a tendency to stay on the sidelines ahead of the Fed and other important events, so that trading becomes more technical," ABN Amro analyst Georgette Boele said.
"If the Fed were to sound more hawkish this will likely push gold below $1,300 temporarily," she said. "In general gold is struggling a bit to move higher, so overall I expect a test of $1,300. Some U.S. dollar recovery would be in line with that."
The metal has fallen 4 percent since hitting a more than one-year high of $1,357.54 earlier this month, as the dollar recovered from lows and as fading concerns over North Korea's nuclear ambitions cut demand for bullion as a haven from risk.
The U.S. central bank is also expected to announce moves to shrink its $4.5 trillion asset portfolio, built up to spur economic growth in the wake of the financial crisis that began a decade ago.
"Normally you would expect gold to suffer from a reduction of the balance sheet, as it benefited when it was increased," Capital Economics analyst Simona Gambarini said.
"But as the Fed has been quite open about its intentions to make this happen, I don't think, unless it announces that it intends to reduce by a lot more than markets expect, that that will happen."
Worries over North Korea could still prompt price gains, analysts said. Its stand-off with the United States is likely to take centre stage at the U.N. General Assembly meeting on Tuesday, where U.S. President Donald Trump is set to speak for the first time.
Among other precious metals, silver was up 0.1 percent at $17.16 an ounce, while platinum was 0.7 percent lower at $948.65 an ounce.
Palladium was down 2.1 percent at $916.14, having earlier slid to its lowest in a month at $908.97 an ounce.
(Reporting by Jan Harvey; additional reporting by Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexander Smith and Mark Potter)
