The most active gold contract for February delivery fell 0.50 U.S. dollars, or 0.03 percent, to close at 1,993.20 dollars per ounce.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Tuesday that the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) increased 0.1 percent in November, and was up 3.1 percent from a year ago. Economists had been looking for no gain and a yearly rate of 3.1 percent.
The core CPI excluding volatile food and energy prices in November increased 0.3 percent month on month and 4 percent from a year ago.
With U.S. inflation data still above the Federal Reserve's 2-percent target, the road to rein in inflation will be rocky, boosting market expectations that the Fed will keep "higher for longer" interest rates in 2024, dampening gold.
The Federal Open Market Committee December meeting convened Tuesday and will conclude Wednesday with an announcement. It is widely expected that the Federal Reserve will keep rate unchanged at the meeting.
The Bank of England and the European Central Bank are also expected to hold rates unchanged at their meetings on Thursday. The Swiss National Bank, Norges Bank, the Bank of Mexico and the Bank of Russia will announce their end-2023 policy decisions this week.
Silver for March delivery fell 4.20 cents, or 0.18 percent, to close at 23.016 dollars per ounce. Platinum for January delivery rose 15.30 dollars, or 1.67 percent, to close at 931.00 dollars per ounce.
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