VINACHEM

Gold held losses near the lowestlevel in more than three weeks before the U.S. Federal Reserveconcludes a policy meeting that may indicate when the centralbank will reduce asset purchases.

Spot gold traded at $1,367.05 an ounce at 2:06 p.m. in Singapore from $1,367.65 yesterday, when the metal dropped to$1,361.08, the cheapest since May 23. Assets in the SPDR GoldTrust, the biggest bullion-backed exchange-traded product, slidto 1,001.66 metric tons yesterday, the least since February 2009.

Gold has slumped 18 percent this year, entering a bearmarket in April, as some investors lost faith in the preciousmetal as a store of value amid speculation the Fed will scaleback monetary stimulus as the U.S. economy recovers. The centralbank, ending a two-day meeting today, currently buys $85 billionof Treasury and mortgage debt a month.

“Gold remains trapped in a range as no one wants to take astand before the end of the Fed meeting,” said Xiang Nan, ananalyst at CITIC Securities Futures Co., a unit of China’sbiggest listed brokerage. “Investors will be watching closelywhat the Fed has to say with regards to monetary stimulus.”

Bullion for August delivery was little changed at $1,365.60an ounce on the Comex in New York. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernankesaid May 22 the Fed could scale back stimulus efforts shouldemployment show “sustainable improvement.” Bernanke will holda press conference following the central bank’s meeting today.

The volume for the Shanghai Gold Exchange’s benchmark cashcontract slipped to a three-week low of 10,814 kilogramsyesterday from 17,339 kilograms on June 17. Cash bullion of99.99 percent purity declined 0.8 percent to 273.43 yuan a gram($1,387.20 an ounce), dropping for a fifth day for the longestlosing streak in a month.

Cash silver fell 0.2 percent to $21.635 an ounce. Spotplatinum was little changed at $1,434 an ounce, while palladiumretreated 0.4 percent to $706.55 an ounce.