Investing.com - Gold prices edged lower in range-bound trade on Tuesday, as market players focused on the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy meeting later this month.
While investors widely expect the Fed to raise rates at its December 15-16 meeting, they anticipate the pace of increases to be gradual. A gradual path to higher rates is seen as less of a threat to gold prices than a swift series of increases.
Gold for February delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange shed $3.00, or 0.28%, to trade at $1,072.20 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours. A day earlier, gold lost $8.90, or 0.82%, as a strengthening greenback weighed on dollar-denominated commodities.
Meanwhile, silver futures for March delivery declined 18.2 cents, or 1.27%, to trade at $14.15 a troy ounce. Prices dropped 19.6 cents, or 1.35%, on Monday.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper swung between gains and losses on Tuesday, as the latest trade figures out of China added to concerns over the health of the world's second-biggest economy, while also pointing to strong demand for the red metal.
Exports slumped 6.8% from a year earlier in November, worse than forecasts for a decline of 5.0%, while imports dropped 8.7%, compared to expectations for a tumble of 12.6%. That left China with a surplus of $54.1 billion last month, down from $61.6 billion in October.
Prices remained supported after trade figures revealed that China’s copper arrivals in November surged 10.0% from a month earlier to 460,000 metric tons, easing worries over weakening demand prospects from the Asian nation.
Market players now looked ahead to data on Chinese consumer and producer price inflation on Wednesday for further hints on the strength of the world's second-largest economy. On Saturday, the Asian nation is due to publish reports on industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment for November.
China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for nearly 45% of world consumption.