Gold swings below five-week high before Fed meeting

London, Oct 30. Gold today swung between gains and losses below a five-week high on speculation Federal Reserve policymakers will maintain stimulus and as physical demand slowed. Gold added 0.2 per cent to USD 1,348.13 an ounce and silver gained 0.8 per cent to USD 22.71 an ounce. The US Dollar Index was little changed after climbing to the highest in almost two weeks before the Fed ends a two-day gathering today. The central bank will pare its 85 billion dollar in monthly bond buying at its March meeting, a Bloomberg News survey of economists on October 17-18 showed. Bullion reached USD 1,361.93 an ounce on October 28, the highest since September 20. Gold is set for the first annual drop in 13 years as some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value. US policymakers last month refrained from slowing stimulus to await further evidence of an economic recovery. The 16-day US government shutdown earlier this month reduced economic growth by 0.3 percentage point this quarter, according to a survey of economists. Holdings in gold-backed exchange-traded products increased for a second day yesterday, rising 0.1 tonne to 1,881.8 tonnes.