FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was nearly flat at $1,927.42 an ounce, 0032 GMT. US gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,941.90.
* The Fed’s policy decision is expected at 7:00 p.m. GMT, followed by a press conference by Chairman Jerome Powell at 7:30 p.m. GMT. The US central bank is expected to reduce rate hikes to 25 basis points (bps) from 50 bps in December.
* Lower interest rates tend to benefit bullion, lowering the opportunity cost of holding the non-performing asset.
* U.S. labor costs rose at their slowest pace in a year in the fourth quarter as wage growth slowed.
* India’s gold consumption in 2022 fell 3% from a year earlier as a rise in local prices to near-record levels reduced demand for bullion in the key December quarter, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Tuesday. * Spot silver lost 0.1% to $23.67 an ounce, platinum fell 0.3% to $1,008.57 and palladium fell 0.2% to 1,645, $75.
* Analysts have cut palladium price forecasts and raised platinum price estimates as electric and hydrogen vehicles disrupt the auto industry on which the two metals depend for demand, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.
