Gold falls ahead of Federal Reserve meeting

CHICAGO, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Monday ahead of a scheduled U.S. Federal Reserve meeting this week.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday. It is widely expected the Federal Reserve will announce another interest rate hike at the end of the FOMC meeting.

U.S. benchmark stock indexes were higher on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 32.42 points, or 0.13 percent, to 24,361.58 points as of 1822 GMT. S&P 500 and Nasdaq followed the upturn.

Gold prices got a brief lift following an attempted terror attack at New Yorks Port Authority bus terminal, but retreated and kept the downturn.

Three people and the attacker himself were hurt as the improvised low-tech explosive device attached to his body exploded prematurely.

The U.S. dollar index, a measure of the dollar against a basket of other major currencies, slid during the morning session, but rebounded later.

The dollar and equities typically move in opposite directions with gold, which means if the dollar and stocks go up, gold futures will fall.

As for other precious metals, silver for March delivery went down 3.8 cents, or 0.24 percent, to settle at 15.785 dollars per ounce. Platinum for January rose 9.10 dollars, or 1.03 percent, to close at 892.80 dollars per ounce. Enditem