By Brijesh Patel
(Reuters) – Gold prices held steady on Wednesday as investors held back from making big bets ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s June policy meeting minutes.
Spot gold was little changed at $1,923.53 per ounce by 09:55 a.m. EDT (1355 GMT), while U.S. gold futures were up 0.1% to $1,931.10.
“Not a lot of action in the gold market right now, a little bit of volatility in the S&P 500. People are anticipating Fed minutes coming out and a lot of economic data coming out in the next 48 hours,” said Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures in Chicago. [.N]
The Fed will issue minutes from its June 13-14 meeting at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT). Traders are pricing in an 89% chance of a 25 basis point hike from the Fed in the July meeting after last month’s pause, per CME’s Fedwatch tool.
Gold is highly sensitive to rising U.S. interest rates, as these increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
“A hawkish set of Fed minutes is likely to deal a heavy blow to the zero-yielding metal, sending prices back below $1,900, with $1,893 and $1,858 acting as key levels of support,” Lukman Otunuga, senior research analyst at FXTM, said in a note.
“Should the minutes sound more dovish, this could offer the precious metal some support – taking prices beyond the $1,932 resistance level.”
Also on the radar, a U.S. jobs report due later in the week will provide more clues on the central bank’s rate outlook.
Markets also watched for updates on China’s export controls on semiconductor metals as it ramps up a tech fight with the United States days before U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visits Beijing.
Spot silver gained 0.6% to $23.08 per ounce, platinum eased 0.1% to $914.18 while palladium was steady at $1,243.44.
(Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Christina Fincher)
