Commodities: Greenback steady ahead of Fed statement, gold holds firm in anticipation
The dollar was steady on Wednesday with the dollar index down only 0.06% to 91.736 by 1725 BST as the market waits to hear from the FOMC on monetary policy, due at 1900 BST.
Gold was also little changed on the day with the spot contract up only 0.12%, just under $1.50, to $1,312/Oz. with the December contract up 0.42% to $1,316/Oz..
"The dollar is under pressure ahead of the Fed," said ABN AMRO analyst Georgette Boele. "But I think it's more to do with the comments from Mr Trump, which are affecting the dollar and indirectly gold as well."
Boele was refering to US President Trump's comments when addressing the UN on Tuesday, in which he said, "The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea."
Over at INTL FCStone, analyst Edward Meir said in a note, "We could see a modest bounce in gold over the next day or two, but nothing that will take the precious metal outside of a relatively tight trading range for the time being."
In other precious metals, silver was marginally lower by 0.02% to $17.32/Oz., while platinum was down over 1% to $944/Oz. and palladium was also lower to $914/Oz..
Copper prices were relatively unchanged on the day, down only 0.02% to $6,532/ tonne.
The global world refined copper market showed a 70,000 tonnes deficit in June, compared with a 50,000 tonnes deficit in May, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) said in its latest monthly bulletin.
For the first 6 months of the year, the market was in a 75,000 tonnes deficit compared with a 405,000 tonnes deficit in the same period a year earlier, the ICSG said.
In a note published earlier in the day, Macquarie said, "Our latest China copper survey shows a divergence in market players'sentiment towards the three months copper market, with traders getting more bullish but smelters more cautious."
Energy markets saw an increase in oil prices, despite an increase in US crude inventories, up 4.6 million barrels.
WTI for January delivery was up 2.28% to $51.47/barrel while the January benchmark brent crude contract was up 1.73% to $55.75/ barrel.
Crude prices were on course for a rise of nearly 16 percent this quarter, which would make this year's performance the strongest for the third quarter since 2004.
OPEC and non-OPEC producers including Russia have agreed to reduce output by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) until March 2018 to reduce global oil inventories and support prices. OPEC and other producers are due to meet in Vienna to discuss the progress of their agreement to limit output.
US crude oil stockpiles jumped last week as imports and production increased, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said, as operations resumed from the impact of Hurricane Harvey which hit the Gulf Coast on the 25 August.
"The impact of Hurricane Harvey can still be seen in today's larger-than-expected build in the U.S. commercial crude stockpile," said Abhishek Kumar at Interfax Energy's Global Gas Analytics in London, "However, this has had limited impact in dissipating the bullish sentiment prevailing in the market."
Agriculturals saw soybeans for November delivery trade 0.37% higher to $9.71/bushel while the December contract for corn was also up on the day by 0.52% to $3.50/bushel.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) earlier said exporters sold 1.212 million tonnes of soybeans to unknown destinations and China - one of the largest single-day sales ever.
Above-normal temperatures in the Midwest were expected to speed up corn and soybean crop maturity and outlooks for limited rains during the next two weeks should also be beneficial for harvesting, agriculture meteorologists said.