Gold Decreases as Awaited Fed Meeting Minutes

The minutes of the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting are due later Wednesday.

Frank Baum, a market analyst at Naga.com, said, "The yellow metal is likely to remain relatively stable with a slight downward bias."

He added, "The meeting minutes will clarify the Federal Reserve's monetary policy and the extent to which policymakers support further interest rate hikes, and may reshape expectations for upcoming rate increases. Moreover, any subsequent movements in long-term Treasury yields, the dollar, or oil prices - driven by developments in the Middle East - will reinforce this directional impact (on gold)".

Recent statements by Federal Reserve officials have confirmed the U.S. central bank's commitment to controlling inflation.

Mary Daly, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said on Tuesday that the need for further increases largely depends on whether the shocks driving inflation will dissipate or continue to worsen.

Recent weak economic data has reduced expectations of a rate hike in October, but traders still see an 85% chance of an increase in December.

When interest rates rise, investors tend to favor higher-yielding assets over gold.

Participants at the annual London Bullion Market Association meeting, held in Sorrento, Italy on Tuesday, expected gold to reach $5013 per ounce within the next 12 months.

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said in an exclusive interview with Reuters that Iran must significantly reduce its uranium enrichment capacity to meet U.S. demands and end the ongoing war, which has lasted over seven months, even as Washington is uncertain how Tehran will make its decisions in negotiations.

Other precious metals, silver fell 1% to $61.12 in spot transactions, platinum rose 0.2% to $1704.25, and palladium declined 0.3% to $1168.20.