Gold fell on Wednesday, extending the session's losses after the US Federal Reserve signalled it was taking a meeting-by-meeting approach on when to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006. Following a two-day meeting, the Federal Reserve pointed to weakness in the US labour market and economy, a sign it is struggling with plans to raise interest rates this year.
Spot gold fell to a session low of $1,201.13 after the Fed statement, and was down 0.6 percent at $1,204.70 an ounce at 3:03 p.m. EDT (1903 GMT). It gained nearly 3 percent in the last two sessions, rising to a three-week high of $1,215 on Tuesday. US gold futures for June delivery settled down $3.90 at $1,210.00 an ounce.
"The market is reading that the Fed hasn't materially moved its liftoff time frame despite recent weakness in economic growth and employment," said Tai Wong, director of metals trading at BMO Capital Markets in New York. Silver was down 0.3 percent at $16.54 an ounce. Platinum was down 0.2 percent at $1,150.49 an ounce, while palladium dropped 0.5 percent to $779.75 an ounce.