Gold prices were little-changed early Tuesday morning as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision later in the day. February gold gained 30 cents to $836.70, up 20 cents on the day. The dollar drifted lower versus the yen and paused against most other majors Tuesday morning in New York as the Federal Reserve prepared to deliver its latest interest rate decision later in the day. Most economists predict the Fed will slash its key interest rate in half to 0.5 percent, but the major focus will be on the central bank's accompanying statement for an assessment of the economy and the outlook for deflation. Cutting another half percentage point would take rates to their lowest levels in over half a century. The last time rates were at 0.50 percent was in July 1954. On the economic front, a Department of Commerce report showed that housing starts fell by 18.9 percent to an annual rate of 625,000 from the revised October estimate of 771,000. Economists had been expecting starts to slip to 730,000 from the 791,000 originally reported for the previous month. The U.S. Labor Department revealed that consumer prices dropped 1.7 percent from the previous month, the largest monthly slide on record. This came as energy prices plummeted 17 percent.

Source