Gold slipped Wednesday as many investors sold holdings for a profit ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision to buy hundreds of billions more in Treasury bonds to revitalize the economy.

Other commodities were mostly higher after the policymakers said they will buy $600 billion of long-term government bonds by the middle of 2011. Their goal is to drive down interest rates that are already historically low.

The bond-buying program should be beneficial for commodities because it will continue to pressure the dollar, Lind-Waldock senior market strategist Rich Ilczyszyn said.

The dollar has been under pressure since late August, when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke first hinted at a plan to buy more bonds.