Gold futures fluctuate as Fed taper confusion persists

Investing.com - Gold futures swung between small gains and losses in rangebound trade during European morning hours on Tuesday, as market players continued to speculate over the timing of the Federal Reserve’s expected reduction in monthly bond purchases.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,322.90 a troy ounce during European morning hours, down 0.3%.

Gold prices held in a range between USD1,321.70 a troy ounce, the daily low and a session high of USD1,329.40 a troy ounce. The December contract ended 0.4% lower on Monday to settle at USD1,327.00 a troy ounce.

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,291.70 a troy ounce, the low from September 18 and resistance at USD1,375.10, the high from September 19.

New York Fed President William Dudley said Monday that a “very accommodative monetary policy” is still needed to support the U.S. economy.  

Dudley, who voted against tapering the central bank’s USD85 billion monthly bond buying program last week, added that adjustments to the Fed’s asset purchase program "need to be anchored in an assessment of how the economy is actually performing”.

Dudley’s comments added to confusion regarding the duration of the Fed’s stimulus program after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said last Friday that a small tapering of bond purchases is “possible” at the Fed’s October meeting.

The Fed will hold its next monetary policy meeting on Oct. 29-30.

Gold prices soared by as much as 4.5% on September 18 after the Fed decided to leave its USD85 billion-a-month stimulus program unchanged.

The decision surprised markets, which had been expecting the central bank to taper its monthly stimulus program by USD10 billion to USD15 billion.

Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would end its quantitative easing program sooner-than-expected.

The precious metal is on track to post a loss of nearly 22% on the year as traders bet an improving U.S. economy would lead the Fed to unwind its stimulus program by the year's end.

Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery fell 0.9% to trade at USD21.65 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery dropped 0.8% to trade at USD3.271 a pound.