Bullions shed 1%

Gold closes lower for second straight session

Bullion prices ended lower on Tuesday, 28 January 2014. Gold futures closed lower on Tuesday for a second session as improving U.S consumer confidence helped fuel a rise in equities, drawing investors' attention away from the precious metal ahead of a policy announcement from the Federal Reserve this week.

Gold futures for February delivery shed $12.60, or 1%, to settle at $1,250.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

March silver lost 29 cents, or 1.5%, to $19.50 an ounce.

Gold prices saw a brief boost after data showed a drop in U.S. durable goods orders in December, but prices fell back as the Conference Board reported that the confidence index rose to a better-than-expected 80.7 in January from 77.2 in December. U.S. equities traded mostly lower Tuesday afternoon and the dollar edged up against most currency rivals following consumer confidence data.

Traders eagerly await news from the Fed's two-day meeting this week and its policy announcement on Wednesday, when the meeting concludes.

World stock and financial markets stabilized, at least for the moment, on Tuesday amid worries about some non-major world currencies being stressed. Recent weaker Chinese economic data and concern about the U.S. Federal Reserve reeling in its very easy monetary policy are credited with pressuring several secondary world currencies in recent trading sessions.

Trading in the market place could become more active Wednesday afternoon, in the wake of the statement following the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting to set its monetary policy. There is a general belief, albeit not a clear consensus, that the Fed will do another $10 billion tapering of its monthly bond-buying program, also called quantitative easing.

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