The price of gold was ticking lower Tuesday morning, with the U.S. dollar trading steady versus a basket of currencies ahead of the outcome of the FOMC meeting.
Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, shed $6.30 to $1,323.30 an ounce. Yesterday, gold settled marginally higher ahead of macroeconomic data during the week, with investors focused on the upcoming U.S. Federal Reserve policy meet later this week anticipating the central bank to reaffirm its commitment to keep interest rates at record low until mid-2014.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged at 927.35 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was lingering around one-month low versus the euro, Sterling and the Swiss franc. The buck continued to move lower against the yen.
In economic news, German consumer sentiment will likely improve in August, reports said, citing a survey report from market research firm GfK. The forward-looking consumer confidence index posted 7 in August, up from 6.8 in July. Economists expected a more modest increased to 6.9.
Meanwhile, euro zone economic confidence strengthened in July, driven by improved confidence among consumers and managers in industry, services and retail trade, survey data from the European Commission showed. The economic confidence index improved to 92.5 from 91.3 in the previous month. The reading matched economists' expectations.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were trading lower in morning deals.
From the U.S., the S&P Case-Shiller home price index for May will be released at 9 a.m ET. The 20-city composite house price index for May is expected to rise by a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent month-over-month, while the unadjusted index may have risen 2 percent. The annual rate of the increase in the index is expected at 12.3 percent.
Later during the session, the Conference Board is scheduled to release its consumer confidence index for July. The consensus expectations call for a small drop in the index to 81 in July from 81.4 in June.
