Gold Falls Below $900 on U.S. Dollar; Focus on Fed

Gold dipped below $900 on Tuesday, off a near four-week high hit the previous day, after the dollar gained against the euro and speculative buying sparked by fears of a global flu pandemic receded.

Investors shifted their attention to a Federal Reserve meeting at a time when the U.S. economy has shown some signs of improvement. Falling oil prices also prompted investors to lock in profit after gold's recent rally.

Gold was at $899.35 an ounce, down $7.40 from New York's notional close, the first time it has fallen below $900 since Thursday. It jumped to its highest since early April at $918.25 on Monday.

"The Fed is likely to keep rates as they are but the markets will be interested in listening to what they have to say about the economy and what they are going to do moving forward," said Adriah Koh, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

"I am still a little hopeful for gold to head higher, but I guess we need more confirmation perhaps over today or the next for gold to head higher," he said.

Policymakers are likely to focus on whether signs of life seen in the economy in February are signaling that the worst is over for a severe recession that started in December 2007, or just the prelude to another decline.