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U.S. Fed two-day policy meeting begins on Tuesday

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Fed seen cutting rates for first time since December

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Doubts over Fed chair Powell's tone at FOMC meet - analyst

(Updates for EMEA session)

By Ishaan Arora

Sept 15 (Reuters) - Gold was flat on Monday as investors

refrained from placing big bets ahead of the U.S. Federal

Reserve's policy meeting later this week, where the central bank

is expected to cut interest rates and offer more insights on the

pace of further easing.

Spot gold held its ground at $3,641.19 per ounce, as

of 0742 GMT. Bullion climbed about 1.6% last week, reaching a

record high of $3,673.95 on Tuesday.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery were down

0.2% at $3,679.20.

"It is widely expected that the Fed will deliver a 25-bp

rate cut. However, doubts remain over the tone Jerome Powell

will adopt in his remarks at the end of the meeting and the

guidance he will provide for future policy decisions," said

Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades.

Last week, data showed U.S. consumer prices increased by the

most in seven months in August amid higher costs for housing and

food, though a surge in first-time applications for jobless

benefits last week kept the Federal Reserve on track to cut

rates on Wednesday.

Traders are pricing in a near-certain 25 basis point (bps)

cut to the Fed's key interest rate at the conclusion of the

two-day policy meeting on September 17, with a small chance of a

50 bps reduction, according to CME FedWatch tool.

Non-yielding bullion, often considered a safe-haven asset

during broader uncertainty, tends to perform well in

low-interest-rate environment.

The Fed's meeting comes amid challenges, including a legal

dispute over its leadership and U.S. President Donald Trump's

efforts to exert more control over the interest rate policy and

the central bank's broader role.

For gold, "while we see the risks to our $4,000/toz mid-2026

forecast as skewed to the upside, rising speculative length

raises the risk of tactical pullbacks, as positioning tends to

mean-revert," Goldman Sachs said in a note on Friday.

Elsewhere, spot silver was up 0.1% at $42.21 per

ounce, platinum gained 1% to $1,404.72 and palladium

rose 1.1% to $1,209.80.