Gold struggled on Monday to climb higher although it rose about 0.20% ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) monetary policy decision this week.
At 9.20am, the price of gold was at $2,379.15, down 0.23% since it opened in early Tuesday's Asian trading session.
Meanwhile, Wall Street showed slightly optimistic market sentiment and a strong USD currency that kept gold prices under pressure.
Reports that consumer demand for gold in Asia has been affected by economic data on high retail prices and the recent disruption of China's economic growth.
In addition, geopolitical risks remain restraining gold after Hezbollah's rocket attacks on Israel threaten to further escalate the conflict in the Middle East.
From the point of view of the US economy, investors are looking forward to the release of important data such as the release of the JOLTS report, ADP data and the FOMC decision this week.
The Federal Reserve (Fed) is expected to keep rates on hold for now and markets feel the US central bank will lay the groundwork for the start of an easing cycle. Market participants are targeting as high as 100% for an interest rate cut at the September meeting.
Furthermore, the focus of this week's data will also be focused on the release of the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) and the Manufacturing PMI (NFP) report in July.
