By Arpan Mukherjee Gold was confined to a tight range in cautious trading in Asia Wednesday, with investors keenly awaiting the outcome of central bank meetings before making a decision. At 0451 GMT, spot gold was at $1,614.15 a troy ounce, down 75 cents from its previous close. Analysts said markets will likely tread water until policy decisions from the Federal Reserve, expected later in the global day, and the European Central Bank's rate-setting meeting Thursday, are out of the way. "Most people are on the sidelines, there is very little activity," a Singapore-based trader said, adding that the yellow metal will likely keep trading in a $1,610-$1,620/oz range ahead of the Fed announcement. Standard Bank analysts, who expect little action from the Fed, said in a note that many expect the ECB to take "some decisive action" after its President Mario Draghi said last week that the bank would whatever it takes to save the euro. "We think that there is a strong possibility that some monetary accommodation will be announced, but not necessarily a cut in the key lending rate," Standard Bank analyst Marc Ground said, adding that this may disappoint the market, dealing a possible second blow to precious metals this week. ANZ analysts lowered the average price forecast for the second half of 2012 by 1.5% to $1,700, noting that the bank's short-term outlook has played out, with investors continuing to favor the dollar as safe-haven asset. "However, we see this changing in the next six months as heightened negative sentiment surrounding Europe eases and the dollar loses some ground to a cheap euro," they said in a note, adding that gold will likely end 2012 at $1,720/oz. In the case of silver, they lowered the average price forecast for the same period by 7% to $30/oz. "A 32% slump in Chinese imports in the first half has been a major factor," along with weaker investment, they said. Spot silver was at $27.99/oz, down 1 cent from its previous close. Over the past few days, platinum and palladium have been able to recover to a certain extent from their respective seven- and eight-month lows, pulled upwards by gold, Commerzbank analysts said in a report. "While platinum is once again riding above $1,400/oz, palladium is attempting to take the $600/oz hurdle," they said. Spot platinum was at $1,407.75/oz, down $5.25, while palladium was at $586.20/oz, up $1.20. Write to Arpan Mukherjee at arpan.mukherjee@wsj.com

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