Gold holds steady as focus turns to Fed meeting

BENGALURU, Sept 17 (Reuters): Gold prices were steady on Tuesday as investors adopted a wait-and-see approach ahead of the US Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting, when the central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates.

Spot gold was mostly unchanged at $1,498.64 per ounce as of 1110 GMT.

Gold prices rose more than 1.0 per cent early Monday before settling 0.6 per cent up for the day after a weekend attack on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia inflamed worries over stability in the Middle East. US gold futures were down 0.3 per cent at $1,506.70 an ounce.

"The market is relatively stable, there is so much (interest) pointed towards the Fed meeting tomorrow, it seems like traders have taken a little bit of a pause," said OANDA senior market analyst Craig Erlam. "Gold got a bit of a bounce yesterday from the geopolitical (fallout) from the attacks, but it didn't even break the $1,520 level on the news, which suggests that gold is a little vulnerable, with $1,480 being the key support level."