09:08 AM EDT, 03/19/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Gold moved lower early on Tuesday as the dollar strengthened ahead of the start of the two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve's policy committee.

Gold for June delivery was last seen down US$3.70 to US$2,182.20 per ounce.

The Federal Open Markets Committee will begin its meeting later on Tuesday and is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged when the meeting ends on Wednesday with a press conference by Fed chair Jerome Powell. The central bank is ignoring pleas from traders to begin cutting rates as a number of inflation measures show it remains above the Fed's 2% target, However the market will be watching closely for hints on when cuts could begin.

The dollar was sharply higher with rates remaining high. The ICE dollar index was last seen up 0.48 points to 103.91, making gold more expensive for international buyers.

Treasury yields weakened, bullish for the precious metal since it offers no interest.. The US two-year note was last seen paying 4.70%, down 4.9 basis points, while the yield on the 10-year note was down 2.7 basis points to 4.307%.