Gold holds tight range ahead of US Fed meet

BENGALURU, Sept 18 Sept 18 (Reuters): Gold consolidated around $1,500 on Wednesday, keeping to a $3.0 range ahead of a US Federal Reserve decision on monetary policy while fears of oil-led inflation ebbed, limiting safe-haven inflows into bullion.

Spot gold was steady at $1,501.30 an ounce by 1136 GMT. US gold futures dipped 0.3 per cent to $1,508.80.

"Hopes that Saudi Arabia's production is going to come back online and oil prices will start to depreciate have boosted market sentiment, so we continue to see some calm across the markets ahead of the Fed meeting," said FXTM analyst Lukman Otunuga.

Oil prices retraced, having surged nearly 15 per cent earlier in the week, after Saudi Arabia's energy minister said the country would restore its lost production by month-end, having restored customer supplies to levels they were prior to attacks on its key facilities.