2017.09.1823:43:00UTC+00Gold Climbs as Dollar Eases; Fed Meeting Eyed

Gold prices climbed on Tuesday from its weakest in more than two weeks as the dollar pared some gains from the session earlier. Market focus is on the two-day Federal Reserve meeting that starts later in the day.

Spot gold rose 0.2 percent at $1,308.86 per ounce, after falling to its weakest level since Aug. 31 at $1,304.10 in the earlier session.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.1 percent to $1,312.60 per ounce.

On Sept. 8, the precious metal's session peak of $1,357.54 per ounce was the highest in 13 months.

According to INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir, gold's decline on Monday did not bring it as low as $1,300 per ounce. Meir said gold's support level on the charts was around
$1,280 an oz while the $1,300 level "is more psychological."

The dollar index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of currencies, fell 0.1 percent at 91.924. It slipped 0.1 percent against the yen after posting its highest since July 27 overnight.

Asian shares were on shaky ground on Tuesday, supported by record peaks on Wall Street but pressured by uncertainty as traders await the Fed meeting for clues on U.S. monetary policy.

Latest U.S. data revealed that hedge funds and other speculators had increased net long positions in the precious metal for nine consecutive weeks.

SPDR Gold Trust, the world's biggest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings climbed 0.63 percent to 843.96 tonnes on Monday from 836.64 tonnes on Friday.

Kinross Gold Corp gave the go signal to spend over $1 billion to expand two of its gold mines, which includes its Tasiast mine in West Africa.