Investing.com - Gold prices traded flat to lower on Monday, pressed down as investors jumped to the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve's Wednesday statement on monetary policy, though a soft German business sentiment report supported the commodity somewhat.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, Ggold futures for December delivery traded at $1,229.70 a troy ounce, down 0.17%, up from a session low of $1,227.50 and off a high of $1,232.00.
The December contract settled up 0.22% at $1,231.80 on Friday.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,240.70 a troy ounce, Wednesday's low, and resistance at $1,255.60, last Tuesday's high.
Gold prices fell earlier as investors avoided the yellow metal and jumped to the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve's statement on monetary policy on Wednesday.
The Fed is widely seen closing its bond-buying program, though uncertainty as to whether or not the statement will contain dovish or hawkish language surrounding interest rates prompted investors to avoid the yellow metal ahead of time.
Investors expect the U.S. central bank to hike interest rates some time in 2015, though spotty U.S. data have many second guessing whether tightening will come sooner or later in the year.
The National Association of Realtors reported earlier its pending home sales index rose by 0.3% last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.5% gain. Pending home sales in August fell by 1%.
Year-on-year, pending home sales rose 1.0% in September, missing expectations for a 2.2% reading following a 4.1% decline in August.
Last week, the association reported that U.S. existing home sales increased 2.4% to 5.17 million units last month from 5.05 million in August, beating forecasts for a 1% rise to 5.10 million units in September.
Meanwhile in Europe, German research institute Ifo reported that its business climate index slid to 103.2 in October from 104.7 in September. This month's reading was the lowest level since December 2012 and missed forecasts for a 104.3 reading, which fueled some safe-haven demand for gold, cushioning losses somewhat.
German firms reported that they are gloomier about current conditions and future prospects than last month, fueling fears for a disappointing fourth-quarter growth rate.
Germany's economy grew by 0.7% in the first quarter of the year, but then contracted by 0.2% in the three months to June. The country is to release data on third quarter growth next month.
Meanwhile, silver for December delivery was down 0.08% at $17.168 a troy ounce, while copper futures for December delivery were up 0.65% at $3.061 a pound.