Gold prices fell to a six-week low on Tuesday, with firmness in the dollar sapping demand as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting starting later in the day and its economic outlook. The dollar was firmer against the euro and most other major currencies except the yen after a broad sell-off in US stocks on Monday raised doubts about the economic recovery, with gloomy World Bank forecasts adding to weak market sentiment.
Gold has often benefited from a similar sense of investor risk aversion, but traders said the dollar's strength was instead weighing on bullion at the moment.