Investing.com - Gold futures were little changed on Tuesday, as investors stuck on the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting due to begin later in the day.
Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched down 10 cents, or 0.01%, to trade at $1,166.10 a troy ounce during European morning hours.
A day earlier, gold tacked on $3.40, or 0.29%, as the U.S. dollar weakened following the release of disappointing U.S. housing sector data
U.S. new home sales dropped 11.5% last month to 468,000 units from 529,000 in August. Analysts had expected new home sales to slip 0.4% to 550,000 in September.
The weaker than expected report added to speculation that the Federal Reserve will hold off on raising interest rates until well into 2016.
Investors were looking ahead to the Fed’s monetary policy statement on Wednesday for any fresh indications on when it may start to hike interest rates.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is to release data on durable goods orders at 8:30AM ET on Tuesday, as investors look for fresh readings on the strength of the economy.
The report is expected to show that orders for durable goods declined 1.2% in September, following a drop of 2.3% a month earlier, while core orders are forecast to rise 0.1% after falling 0.2% in August.
Gold traders have been trying to gauge when the Fed will raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade after recent economic reports offered a mixed picture of the U.S. economy.
The timing of a Fed rate hike has been a constant source of debate in the markets in recent months.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange tacked on 1.4 cents, or 0.6%, to hit $2.371 a pound during morning hours in London.
Data released earlier showed that Chinese industrial profits slipped 0.1% from a year earlier in September, compared to an 8.8% tumble in the previous month.
Copper prices have been under pressure in recent sessions as persistent worries about future demand from top consumer China weighed.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.