Gold holds ground; focus on timing of Fed rate move

By Manolo Serapio Jr

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold hovered in a tight range near $1,290 an ounce on Wednesday as the focus turned to whether a weaker global economy might push back the timing of an interest rate rise expected this year from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to release a statement at the end of a two-day policy meeting later on Wednesday and a dovish bias could support gold, a non-interest-bearing asset.

"Our view is that the central bank will likely pay greater attention to the slowing global macro picture and reinforce its 'go-slow' approach on interest rates," INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note to clients.

Spot gold was off 0.3 percent at $1,288.90 an ounce by 0717 GMT, after trading between $1,286.95 and $1,293.80. Bullion hit a five-month high of $1,306.20 last week.

The metal is consolidating around $1,290 ahead of the Fed's statement, which may not offer any surprise, said Howie Lee, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures.

"I think it'll be mostly a non-event. The Fed will probably stick to the status quo and if that proves to be true, then gold should continue to hover between $1,270 and $1,290 in the near term," Lee said.

Lee expects the Fed to remain on course to raise U.S. interest rates by June, given how the world's top economy has recovered, a trend set to continue this year.

U.S. gold for February delivery slipped 0.3 percent to $1,288.20 an ounce.

With the U.S. bracing for its first rate hike in nearly a decade, gold prices are forecast to fall for a third year in a row in 2015, a Reuters poll showed. But analysts say the market should find a floor, paving the way for a recovery next year.

In the near term, gold is unlikely to fall below $1,250 because of buying interest from the Chinese ahead of the Lunar New Year next month, Lee said.

Gold imports from Hong Kong by top consumer China fell nearly a third in 2014, although the purchases were still the second highest on record at just over 813 tonnes.

(Editing by Himani Sarkar and Alan Raybould)