*Gold down 1.7 percent so far this week. SINGAPORE, June 19- Gold fell for a third straight session on Wednesday, hovering near the lowest level in four weeks, as a rally in stocks and investor caution over the Federal Reserve curbing its stimulus programme sapped support for bullion.
*Syria peace conference unlikely before Aug- source. SINGAPORE, June 19- Brent crude futures held above $106 a barrel on Wednesday as investors looked to a Federal Reserve meeting for clues on the outlook for a U.S. stimulus programme that has underpinned commodity prices. Brent futures for August delivery had gained 13 cents to $106.15 a barrel by 0522 GMT.
*Syria peace conference unlikely before Aug- source. SINGAPORE, June 19- Brent crude futures held above $106 a barrel on Wednesday as investors looked to a Federal Reserve meeting for clues on the outlook for a U.S. stimulus programme that has underpinned commodity prices. Brent futures for August delivery had edged down 1 cent to $106.01 a barrel by 0310 GMT.
WASHINGTON, June 19- Federal Reserve policymakers will likely announce on Wednesday that they will keep buying bonds at a monthly pace of $85 billion, while keeping their options open to scale back the program later this year if the U.S. labor market continues to improve. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a news conference 30 minutes later.
SINGAPORE, June 19- Gold edged up on Wednesday after a two-day drop, but investors remained cautious as they looked to the end of a Federal Reserve policy meeting for clues on the outlook for U.S. economic stimulus. *Spot gold was up 0.06 percent at $1,368.59 an ounce by 0013 GMT, hovering around a nearly one-month low of $1,364.54 touched on Tuesday.
SYDNEY, June 18- All the major currencies marked time in Asia on Wednesday as investors waited anxiously to see if the Federal Reserve could clarify the outlook for policy without sending markets into a fresh frenzy.
TOKYO, June 19- Japan's Nikkei share average is expected to rise to a one-week high on Wednesday, helped by a second-straight day of gains on Wall Street as investors bet that the Federal Reserve would temper worries about an imminent roll back of its stimulus programme.
LONDON, June 19- The fate of Britain's two state-controlled banks will become clearer on Wednesday, when finance minister George Osborne is likely to start the clock ticking for the sale of the government's stakes.
LONDON, June 19- Britain should introduce laws making it possible to jail "reckless" bankers and claw back past bonus and pension awards, an influential panel of lawmakers said on Wednesday.
NEW YORK, June 18- Deloitte LLP's financial advisory unit will pay $10 million and refrain for one year from new business with certain New York banks to settle accusations over its review of money laundering controls at Standard Chartered Bank.
The Fast Money traders share their final trades of the day.
Tuesday, 18 Jun 2013 | 5:00 PM ETAhead of the Fed meeting, the S&P 500 appears headed toward 1,687, StockMonster's Guy Adami says.
Tuesday, 18 Jun 2013 | 6:40 PM ETYou say the name of a stock, and Mad Money's Jim Cramer tells you whether to buy or sell.