(Bloomberg) -- Gold investors have gone into wait-and-see mode ahead of an expected interest rate reduction by the Federal Reserve later on Wednesday that will kick off a busy round of policy decisions from leading central banks.

Prices were confined to a narrow range near $1,500 an ounce after a two-day gain following the weekend’s strike against oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. The Pentagon is preparing a public assessment on who was responsible, after Secretary of State Micheal Pompeo earlier placed the blame on Iran.

Gold has surged to a six-year high in 2019 as slowing growth and the drag from the U.S.-China trade war prompted central banks to ease policy. The Fed delivered its first rate cut in more than a decade in July, casting that move as a “mid-cycle adjustment”. Investors are now waiting to see if policy makers pivot toward a more sustained run of reductions, potentially aiding bullion.

“Any mention of heightened global risks could see gold prices find further support,” Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said in a note. Chairman Jerome Powell is expected “to emphasize that the Fed will do what it can to sustain the expansion,” it said.

Gold was steady at $1,502.05 an ounce at 9:03 a.m. in Singapore after climbing 0.7% on Monday and a further 0.2% on Tuesday. Prices hit $1,557.11 on Sept. 4, the highest since 2013. Silver was also little changed near $18 an ounce.

After the Fed’s session, a slew of other top central bank meetings follow as the Bank Of England, Bank of Japan and Swiss National Bank all deliver decisions on Thursday. Last week, the European Central Bank eased policy.

Most investors expect that the Fed will pare borrowing costs by a quarter percentage point, matching the scale of the year’s initial cut. Citigroup Inc. has said U.S. rates will eventually be reduced to zero, sending bullion to a record.

Ahead of this week’s meeting, Fed traders jumped into U.S. money markets to inject cash to quell a spike in short-term rates. The central bank plans to return on Wednesday to offer another $75 billion of cash.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jake Lloyd-Smith in Singapore at jlloydsmith@bloomberg.net;Krystal Chia in Singapore at kchia48@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Phoebe Sedgman at psedgman2@bloomberg.net, Jake Lloyd-Smith, Keith Gosman

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