Commodities: Profit-taking hits gold ahead of FOMC statement

Tuesday saw some money coming off the table as investors looked to be taking some profits on gold ahead of Wednesday's FOMC statement after a month high of $1,258 was hit in the previous session.

Gold opened the morning session at $1,257 and traded lower to hit a day low of $1,249 by 1100 BST and continued to trade sideways between $1,250 and $1,255 for the rest of the day.

David Madden of CMC Markets said: "The strength of the global equity markets is an indication that traders are willing to take on more risk today, and risk-on days usually see the price of gold fall."

Meanwhile, Brent crude continued its rally higher on the back of an OPEC meeting held on Monday where OPEC and non-OPEC members agreed to cut output in light of the falling oil price. Saudi Arabia has said that it will limit exports to 6.6m bpd (barrels per day) in August.

Kicking the day off at $49 per barrel, Brent started posting hourly gains to hit a day high of $50.27 by 1700 BST, up on the day by 2.87%.

After fairly rangebound moves on Monday, copper seemed to kick itself up a gear in Tuesday's trading with the base metal opening the UK session at $6,044 and continuing to trade higher to hit a day high of $6,281 by 1700 BST.

Continued confidence in Chinese growth and a weaker dollar were cited as the main drivers recently.