Gold stable

Reuters

Bengaluru

Gold held firm on Wednesday after falling as much as 1 percent the session before, with investors waiting for minutes from the Federal Reserve´s latest meeting for clues on the timing of interest rate hikes.

Spot gold was steady at $1,236 per ounce at 0336 GMT, while U.S. gold futures eased 0.2 percent to $1,237. "Although U.S. inflation has risen, the expectation of a rate hike in March is not very high," said Jiang Shu, chief analyst at Shandong Gold Group.

"Since gold has only risen since the beginning of this year, the market has some hesitation in moving up further, but still (prices) have some way to go up."

Traders are looking ahead to the minutes from the Fed´s Jan. 30-Feb.1 meeting, due at 1900 GMT on Wednesday.

Spot gold looks neutral in a range of $1,233-$1,240 per ounce, and an escape could suggest direction, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.