Gold slips for third session, Fed policy meeting eyed
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold extended losses to a third session on Wednesday as investors turned jittery ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's statement on the outlook for its bond-buying stimulus.
A rebound in stock markets after Turkey raised its key interest rates, calming fears about emerging markets, also hurt safe-haven gold.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,252.30 an ounce by 0021 GMT.
* The Fed is expected to announce a $10 billion cut to its bond purchases at the end of its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.
* The outstanding volume of gold sold forward by mining companies hit its lowest since at least 2002 in the third quarter, Societe Generale and Thomson Reuters GFMS said on Tuesday, as miners cut 'hedges' by 6 more tonnes.
* Kazakhstan lifted its gold reserves by 2.39 tonnes in December, data from the International Monetary Fund showed. Ukraine added 0.6 tonnes to its gold reserves, Belarus 0.9 tonnes and Azerbaijan just under 1 tonne.
* Detour Gold Corp (DGC.TO) would consider using a hedging strategy if the price of gold drops from current levels, the Canadian gold miner said.
MARKET NEWS
* Tokyo's Nikkei share average opened higher on Wednesday, following stronger U.S. stocks.
* Japan's yen extended its pullback early on Wednesday, while higher-risk currencies such as the Australian dollar rallied.
(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Eric Meijer)
