Gold slightly unchanged ahead of Fed meeting

The gold price held steady on Wednesday ahead of the market expectations for the outcome later in the day of a Federal Reserve meeting for clues on the possible US interest rate hike.

The spot gold remained little changed at USD 1,288.00 an ounce at 0102 GMT, whereas the metal touched its highest since October 4 at USD1291.86 per ounce in the previous session.

As signs of Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump closing the gap with his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton spooked investors, the US gold futures escalated 0.1 percent at USD1,289.30 per ounce amid the Asian shares, which stumbled in comparison to the US dollar on defensive on Wednesday.

US factory activity increased for a second straight month in October amid a pickup in production and hiring, supporting views that the embattled manufacturing sector would regain some momentum in the fourth quarter.

The economy is on track to grow at a 2.3 percent annualized pace in the fourth quarter on expected lower consumer spending and overall investments, the Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDP Now forecast model showed on Tuesday.

The Bank of Japan held off on expanding stimulus on Tuesday despite yet again pushing back the timing for hitting its inflation target, signaling that it will keep policy unchanged unless a severe shock threatens to derail a fragile economic recovery.