NEW YORK—Gold futures were steady Wednesday as a little-changed dollar and anticipation of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting later in the day dominated the market.
The FOMC is widely expected to announce a second Treasurys purchasing program aimed at expanding the money supply and stimulating growth.
Some investors have worried that the so-called quantitative easing will do more to increase inflation and depreciate the dollar, and purchased gold to hedge against these risks. Gold hit a record settlement of $1,377.60 per troy ounce on Oct. 14.
Wednesday morning, the most actively traded contract, for December delivery, was up 0.02%, or 60 cents, at $1,357.50 per troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold futures were expected to trade on low volumes and within a range ahead of the FOMC announcement. "We're waiting for the Fed," said Frank Lesh, broker and futures analyst at FuturePath Trading.
While the market expects a $500 billion stimulus program, "there's still room for surprise," Mr. Lesh said. "Any deviation from that, less or more, could impact the market."
