By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures fell back below $1,800 an ounce Wednesday as the U.S. dollar strengthened, garnering investor attention ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s announcement on monetary policy. Gold for December delivery GC1Z -0.63% fell $13.40, or 0.7%, to $1,795.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost more than $30, or 1.7%, on Tuesday. “Markets will likely be quiet in front of FOMC announcement ... and there is little change in European economic headlines,” said Darin Newsom, a senior analyst at Telvent DTN. “This allows gold to post a minor, short-term selloff before rallying again.” Weakness in gold came as investors turned their attention to the U.S. currency, lifting the dollar index DXY +0.27% to 77.224 from 77.089 late Tuesday in North American trading. The Federal Reserve is expected to announce a plan later Wednesday to swap shorter-maturity government securities for longer-dated ones in another stab at jolting the slow-moving U.S. economy. Read the Fed preview story. If the Fed makes such an announcement, it could support the gold market by putting renewed pressure on the U.S. dollar index, said Newsom. Platinum and palladium edged lower along with gold prices after posting gains in the previous session, but copper and silver traded modestly higher. October platinum PL1V -0.22% shed $5.40, or 0.3%, to $1,776.50 an ounce, while palladium for December delivery PA1Z -0.20% slipped by $1.35, or 0.2%, to $716.40 an ounce. The December copper contract HG1Z +0.48% was up 2 cents, or 0.5%, at $3.74 a pound. On Tuesday, prices for the industrial metal finished at their lowest settlement level since November 23, 2010. December silver SI1Z +0.21% rose 3 cents, or 0.1%, at $40.17 an ounce. Myra Saefong is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.

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