"Powell et al will make it clear that any changes will be glacial and will be communicated well in advance and there is no reason to believe we'll see a collapse in risk sentiment," Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston said.
"However, should we see higher real rates in the bond market then we should see a higher USD regime, and this will mean gold will become a sell on rallies candidate."
Gold fell from above $1,860/oz yesterday to about $1,805 earlier but had recovered a little to almost $1,819/oz at the time of writing.
Gold major Newmont closed down 0.9% in New York.
Gold miners were generally lower in Toronto also, where Barrick Gold closed down 0.8%.
Finally, copper missed the memo from China, which is aiming to keep a lid on commodity prices, and closed up more than 1% on the London Metal Exchange yesterday.
