Spillover selling from gold dragged silver to a near one-month low, while platinum hit its weakest price since September and palladium fell sharply.
December delivery gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division fell $6.50, or 1.4 percent, to $460.40 an ounce by 10:31 a.m. EST (1531 GMT), moving from $468.30 to $459.50 - its cheapest since Sept. 16.
Some dealers felt gold had needed more of a technical correction down to below $460 after prices rose too quickly to 18-year highs above $480 in October, boosted by investment demand and fears of inflation and slower US economic growth.
Exerting new pressure on the metal, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce a 12th straight rise in rates in the afternoon, taking the benchmark rate to 4 percent and increasing the yield attraction for the US currency.
Spot gold hit $458.50/459.20 an ounce, way below Monday's New York close at $464.80/5.60. Tuesday's afternoon fix by London bullion dealers was at $459.50.
"In the current market climate, (bullion) remains at risk of further short-term pressure and now looks set to target the $450-452 area," said James Moore at TheBullionDesk.com.
But Moore felt the yellow metal's longer-term bull-trend was intact with prices set to rise back to $480 near year-end.
Estimated COMEX gold volume was 26,000 lots by 10 a.m.
Analysts said a potential union of Barrick Gold with Canadian competitor Placer Dome may support gold prices due to increased de-hedging, while it should not dramatically affect the outlook for production.
December silver dropped 13.0 cents to $7.45 an ounce, trading from $7.62-7.41, which was its lowest Oct. 5. Spot silver was at $7.40/43, from $7.52/55 previously. It fixed at $7.535.
NYMEX January platinum shed $19.20 to $924 an ounce. Spot platinum reached $918/923. December palladium lost $5.15 to $222 an ounce. Spot palladium was at $218/222.