Investing.com - Gold prices fell to the lowest level in almost three weeks on Wednesday, amid expectations the Federal Reserve will end its bond-buying program at the conclusion of its policy meeting later in the day.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery fell to a session low of $1,220.80 a troy ounce, the weakest level since October 10.
Prices last traded at $1,223.50 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours, down $5.90, or 0.48%.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,217.60, the low from October 10, and resistance at $1,235.50, the high from October 28.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for December delivery dipped 0.8 cents, or 0.05%, to trade at $17.21 a troy ounce.
Market players looked ahead to the outcome of the Fed's policy meeting later in the day, at which it is widely expected to announce the end of its bond-buying stimulus program, known as quantitative easing.
Investors will scrutinize the Fed's statement for wording that reflects expectations that interest rates will remain on hold near zero levels for some time to come.
Most analysts expected policymakers to reiterate that rates will stay low for a “considerable time” and that there is a “significant underutilization" in the labor market.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for December delivery inched up 1.0 cent, or 0.32%, to trade at $3.100 a pound, concerns over a disruption to global supplies continued to support prices.
Workers at Freeport-McMoRan's Grasberg mine in Indonesian will hold a one-month strike starting next week over concern about worker safety.
Grasberg is one of the world's largest copper mines. In 2013, Freeport sold 885 million pounds of copper from Grasberg.
Separately, workers at Peru's biggest copper mine, Antamina, plan to start an indefinite strike from November 10.