By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Gold was down on Monday morning in Asia, hitting a more than five-week low. Meanwhile, the strengthened and investors await the latest U.S. Federal Reserve policy decision.

They were at $1,746.05 as of 12:14PM ET (4:14AM GMT) after having reached $1,741.8 earlier in the session. Although the gold-like currency moves in the opposite direction of the dollar, Monday’s move saw the dollar rise a little.

All eyes are on as it hands down its on Wednesday. The central bank will also likely release fresh economic projections and a new read on officials’ expectations vis-a-vis interest rate hikes.

According to Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management, investors are beginning to believe that an announcement about asset tapering could soon be made. Innes also stated that the central bank could surprise them with a hawkish twist in dot plots.

“It really looks like the markets turned quite bearish on gold, with some critical support levels, including $1,780 and $1,750, giving away and I think this does open up for a test of $1,700,” he added.

Other central banks, including those in , ., , , , , , , , , and , will also hand down their respective policy decisions throughout the week.

Other precious metals saw silver fall 1.2% to $22.13 per an ounce after hitting $22.01 in November 2020. Platinum dropped to $907.50 for a ten month low, and fell 2.8% at the last check. Palladium was 3.5% lower.