Gold falls ahead of FOMC announcement

CHICAGO -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Wednesday as investors took profits ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announcement.

The most active gold contract for April delivery fell $2.5, or 0.13 percent, to close at $1,942.8 per ounce.

Shortly after the floor trading of gold closed, the FOMC announcement came out, indicating that the Federal Reserve would raise its interest rates by 25 basis points as expected.

Gold kept falling after the rate hike announcement.

Economic data released on Wednesday are mixed. The US Labor Department reported that US job openings, a measure of labor demand, increased 572,000 to 11.0 million on the last day of December. Economists had forecast 10.250 million job openings.

The S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI was revised slightly higher to 46.9 in January of 2023 from a preliminary estimate of 46.8.

The Automated Data Processing Inc. reported that US private sector employers added 106,000 jobs in January, down from a revised 253,000 in the prior month.

The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index slipped one percentage point to 47.4 percent in January, from 48.4 percent in December.

Silver for March delivery fell 22.7 cents, or 0.95 percent, to close at 23.609 dollars per ounce. Platinum for April delivery fell $19.4, or 1.9 percent, to close at $1,001.7 per ounce.