Will gold see weakness going into Fed and Syria announcements?

”Gold fell to a five-week low on speculation the Federal Reserve will slow stimulus next week and amid talks on a plan for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons.  Silver headed for the biggest weekly drop since June.

Gold futures slid 5.4 percent this week, the most since June 21, as the threat of an imminent attack on Syria eased.  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reported a ‘constructive’ start to talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is seeking an agreement that would make a strike unnecessary.

Bullion fell 22 percent this year as some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value and on speculation the Fed will curb stimulus.  Policy makers will cut monthly debt purchases to $75 billion from $85 billion at the Sept. 17-18 meeting, a Sept. 6 Bloomberg News survey showed.  Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said there’s a risk gold may drop below $1,000 an ounce, a level last reached in 2009.
‘The risk premium that was seen in gold seems to be fading now, after tensions with Syria eased,’ analysts at Hyderabad, India-based Karvy Comtrade Ltd. wrote today in a report.  ‘Expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve this month may start to unwind its monetary stimulus’ will pressure gold in the near term, they said.

Gold for December delivery fell 1.3 percent to $1,312.90 by 7:56 a.m. on the Comex in New York.  Prices reached $1,304.60, the lowest since Aug. 9.  Futures trading volume was 17 percent above the average for the past 100 days for this time of day, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.  Gold for immediate delivery in London declined 0.6 percent to $1,313.34.”