Investing.com - Gold prices rose on Wednesday in Asia as traders awaited the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy statement later in the day.
The Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) began its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, with a decision on interest rates due later on Wednesday.
Markets widely expect the Fed to deliver a more dovish message about the outlook for further rate hikes, with traders set to closely watch the Fed's language in its statement and remarks by Chairman Jerome Powell.
Gold futures were down 0.2% at $1304.55 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange by 1:15 AM ET (05:15 GMT).
The U.S. central bank will also release new forecasts for economic growth and interest rates, known as the "dot-plot", which many analysts say will probably point to at most one more interest rate hike this year. The Fed has already signalled that it's extremely unlikely to raise rates again in the near term, after four hikes in 2018.
Lower interest rates tend to pressure the dollar and increase investor interest in non-yielding bullion.
“Gold price is dancing just above the $1,300 threshold, without a clear direction... bullion has been so far unable to surpass $1,310 and remains deadlocked close to $1,300 in this ‘wait-and-see’ scenario,” ActivTrades chief analyst Carlo Alberto De Casa said in a note that was cited by Reuters.
Meanwhile, reports that U.S. officials are concerned Beijing might refuse to accept U.S. demands in trade talks sent equity markets lower on Wednesday, but the news seemed to have little impact on safe-haven gold.