Gold sidelined near $1465 level, FOMC awaited

Gold lacked any firm directional bias and seesawed between tepid gains/minor losses, around the $1463-66 region through the early European session on Wednesday.

Following some modest gains over the past two trading session and the previous session's late pullback, spot prices were largely unchanged on Wednesday as investors awaited fresh US-China trade headlines and the FOMC policy decision.

Focus on trade developments, FOMC

The US-China trade talks showed little progress and conflicting reports on Tuesday further added to the uncertainty ahead of the December 15 deadline for the imposition of additional tariffs on around $156 billion worth Chinese products.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the US President Donald Trump is yet to decide on the December 15 tariffs. Adding to this, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said that Trump was likely to proceed with new tariffs by Sunday.

The safe-haven gold received some support on the back of the latest developments but gains were limited on the back of news that negotiators from both sides were laying the groundwork for a preliminary deal to wind back their trade war.

Against the backdrop of persistent trade uncertainty, the prevalent cautious mood continued lending some support to the metal, albeit a modest pickup in the US dollar demand capped further gains for the dollar-denominated commodity.

Investors also seemed reluctant to place any aggressive bets ahead of the highly anticipated FOMC monetary policy decision, which might play a key part in determining the next leg of a directional move for the non-yielding yellow metal.

Technical levels to watch