Investing.com - Gold and silver prices held steady in rangebound trade on Wednesday, ahead of the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated policy statement later in the day. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at USD1,231.60 a troy ounce during U.S. morning trade, up 0.15%. Comex gold prices held in a tight range between USD1,228.10 a troy ounce and USD1,236.60 a troy ounce. Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,219.50 a troy ounce, the low from December 13 and resistance at USD1,251.70, the high from December 16. The February contract settled down 1.15% on Tuesday to end at USD1,230.10 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, silver for March delivery inched up 0.4% to trade at USD19.92 a troy ounce. Comex silver prices held in a range between USD19.81 a troy ounce and USD20.02 a troy ounce. Prices of the precious metals were little changed following the release of positive U.S. housing data. In a report, the Census Bureau said housing starts rose to 1.09 million units last month, from 0.89 million in October, compared to expectations for an increase to 0.95 million units. Building permits in the U.S. fell 3.1% to 1.01 million units in November, from 1.04 million units the previous month. Analysts had expected building permits to drop 4.7% last month to 0.99 million units. Investors remained wary ahead of the outcome of the Fed’s final policy meeting of the year, with some expecting the bank to announce a small reduction in the pace of its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program. However, many believe that the bank will wait until early next year to start rolling back stimulus, despite recent indications the U.S. economic recovery is deepening. Gold is down approximately 26% this year, while silver has lost nearly 35%, as solid U.S. economic data underlined expectations the Fed will begin curbing stimulus. Elsewhere on the Comex, copper futures for March delivery dipped 0.25% to trade at USD3.314 a pound.

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