The price of gold was moving higher Wednesday morning as traders await cues from the outcome of the FOMC meeting, due out later today.
Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $6.60 to $1,331.40 an ounce. Yesterday, gold settled lower ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meet with investors awaiting the outcome with anxiety linked to the central bank's commitment continue with its quantitative easing program and hold interest rates at record low level. But the yellow metal pared some of the losses after some weak consumer sentiment data reported by the Conference Board
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 and sterling, while ticking higher against the Swiss franc and the yen.
In economic news, retail sales in Germany declined unexpectedly in June, data published by the Federal Statistical Office showed. Retail sales fell a seasonally and calendar adjusted 1.5 percent month-on-month in real terms in June, reversing a 0.7 percent gain in May and a 0.3 percent increase in April. This was in contrast to economists' expectation for a 0.2 percent growth.
German unemployment declined in July, reports said citing the latest figures from the Labor Ministry. The number of unemployed fell by 7,000 persons in July from a month earlier. Economists had forecast no change in the unemployment figure.
The euro area unemployment rate remained stable at seasonally adjusted 12.1 percent in June, data from Eurostat showed. The statistical office revised May's jobless rate to 12.1 percent from 12.2 percent estimated on July 2. The June rate was seen at 12.2 percent.
A separate flash report from Eurostat showed that inflation held steady at 1.6 percent in July. The rate came in line with economists' expectations.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were moving higher in morning deals.
From the U.S., the the ADP will release its report on private payrolls at 8:15 a.m. ET. Economists expect the sector to have added 179,000 jobs in July compared to the 188,000 jobs added in June.
The Commerce Department is due to release its advance second quarter GDP estimate at 8:30 a.m. ET. The consensus estimates call for GDP growth of 1.1 percent for the second quarter, slower than the 1.8 percent growth for the first quarter.
Later during the session, the ISM-Chicago is scheduled to release the results of its regional manufacturing survey at 9:45 a.m. ET. Economists expect the business barometer for July to improve to 54 from 51.6 in June.
