Gold prices edged higher on Wednesday, near a 2-week high, but today's gains remain limited, ahead of the US Federal Reserve's decision.

Gold prices rose 0.4% to $1,737.91 an ounce, after opening at $1,731.35, and hit a low of $1,729.65.

Gold closed lower by less than 0.1%, on profit-taking from a 2-week low of $1,741.08.

The Fed is issuing its decisions and guidance today, presenting strong evidence on inflation, growth forecasts for the US, amid expectations for interest rates to be held at 0.25% unchanged.

At 18:00 GMT, the Fed will unveil its monetary policy statement and economic outlook, and Chairman Jerome Powell will deliver a speech at 18:30 GMT.

This meeting will address the latest developments in the US bond market, after the 10-year US Treasury yields to a 13-month high of 1.646%.

The jump in bond yields came after US inflation expectations rose to a 6-year high, especially after oil prices rose to their highest levels in several years, in addition to injecting more cash spending in the US, and the global economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis.

Gold stocks at the SPDR ETF remained unchanged yesterday, with the total at the lowest level since April 24, 2020 at 1,050.32 metric tonnes.

Euro fell in European trade against a basket of major rivals for the fourth straight session under pressure from higher US bond yields, and ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decisions, and an important announcement today by European medical authorities on the AstraZeneca vaccine investigation. 

EUR/USD fell 0.1% to 1.1886, after closing down 0.25% yesterday on concerns the recovery in Europe might be stalled after several countries suspended Covid vaccinations on health concerns.

10-year US treasury yields rose over 1% today to near 13-month highs at 1.646%, bolstering the greenback as well.

The Fed is issuing its decisions and guidance today, presenting strong evidence on inflation, growth forecasts for the US.

European medical authorities are deciding on the blood clot suspected association with the AstraZeneca Covid 19 vaccine later today. 

The Japanese yen rose against the US dollar on Tuesday, following Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's remarks about the monetary stimulus program.

Kuroda hinted that the BoJ may begin to gradually end the quantitative easing program staring from its BOJ’s two-day rate review on Friday. 

Kuroda emphasized that the real borrowing costs remain cheap due to aggressive monetary easing, which is a milestone for this huge program during Kuroda's term of leading the BoJ.

Data showed today that the Japanese industrial production index rose 4.3% during February, beating forecasts of 4.2%.

USD/JPY fell 0.1% to 108.9, and hit a high of 109.2 and a low of 108.7.

The American Petroleum Institute reported today in preliminary data that the US crude inventories fell 1 million barrels during the past week, while analysts forecaste a rise by 400K barrels.

Gasoline stocks fell 926K barrels, and the distillate stocks fell 904K barrels.

While the Energy Information Administration will release its official report on Wednesday, which affects price movements.