Gold falls as investors weigh Fed meet, ETP holdings drop

London, May 1. Gold today fell, extending its worst monthly loss in more than a year, on concern the US Federal Reserve will reduce stimulus measures and after a record drop in exchange-traded product assets. The gold slid 0.4 per cent to 1,470.58 dollar an ounce and silver by 0.8 per cent to 24.13 dollar an ounce. The Fed, which is buying 85 billion dollar of bonds a month in a third round of quantitative easing, concludes a two-day policy meeting today and may reduce purchases to 50 billion dollar as it begins to unwind record stimulus, according to economists. Gold-backed ETPs plunged 174 metric tons last month, the biggest drop on record. China’s manufacturing expanded at a weaker pace in April, a report showed today. While prices have rebounded 11 per cent since touching a two-year low on April 16, they dropped 7.6 per cent last month, the biggest loss since December 2011, as some investors lost faith in gold as a traditional store of value. Markets in the European Union, China, Hong Kong, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines are closed today for holidays.