Gold lower ahead of Fed announcement

              Gold futures traded lower during Wednesday’s Asian session as traders await the conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting later Wednesday. 

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery fell 0.15% to USD1,343.50 per troy ounce in Asian trading Wednesday. The December contract settled lower by 0.50% at USD1,345.50 per ounce on Tuesday. 

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,310.10 a troy ounce, the low from Oct. 22, and resistance at USD1,361.70, Monday's high. 

Gold was glossed over even amid slack U.S. data points. In U.S. economic news out Tuesday, the Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence dropped to 71.2 in October from an upwardly revised reading of 80.2 in September. Analysts were expecting the index to fall to 75.0 this month. 

The Commerce Department U.S. retail sales fell 0.1% in September, while core retail sales, which exclude transportation items and gasoline, rose 0.4%, both in line with expectations.

Separately, the Labor Department reported that the country's producer price index contracted 0.1% in September, defying gains for a 0.2% gain. 

While the recent batch of U.S. data has not been terrible, it has been tepid enough to stoke speculation the Fed has no choice but to keep its USD85 billion-per-month quantitative easing program in place. 

The central bank has previously said tapering of its bond-buying program is not tied to a fixed schedule, but rather to the quality of U.S. data points. 

Elsewhere, Comex silver for December delivery fell 0.08% to USD22.473 an ounce while copper for December delivery lost 0.07% to USD3.278 per ounce. - investing.com