Gold mining activities
Gold mines have been sold and shuttered this year as companies slim their asset portfolios. Reuters

Precious metals were down in Asian trade on Wednesday, as dollar's gains following Tuesday's FOMC decision to keep the US quantitative easing program uninterrupted weighed on the investment appeal of the commodities.

On Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM), gold and platinum were only slightly weaker, while silver and palladium dropped more than 0.3 percent each from previous close, as of 4:07 am GMT.

Dollar had risen across the board following the policy announcement, with an index measuring its performance against other major currencies moving off the day's low of 79.50 to end 0.24 percent stronger on the day at 79.56.

The greenback extended its gains against most major currencies Wednesday in Asia too.

Investors, however, were not that enthusiastic to give up their gold stocks ahead of the holiday-season.

Prices of most active October 2011 contracts of the metals are given below.

Quantitative easing Gold Quantitative easing Gold