Investing.com - Gold futures traded below the key $1,300-level on Wednesday, as investors looked ahead to the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting later in the day for further clues about the timing of future interest rate hikes.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for December delivery shed 0.21%, or $2.70, to trade at $1,294.00 a troy ounce during European morning hours.
Prices held in a narrow range between $1,293.60 and $1,297.80 an ounce.
A day earlier, gold futures shed 0.2%, or $2.60, to settle at $1,296.70 as upbeat U.S. housing data indicated that the recovery is gaining traction.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,293.00, the low from August 15 and resistance at $1,304.90, the high from August 18.
Gold declined on Tuesday after data showed that U.S. housing starts jumped 15.7% in July, while the number of new permits granted to home-builders also accelerated, pointing to underlying strength in the housing sector.
The upbeat data added to optimism over the strength of the economy and fuelled expectations that the Fed will begin to raise rates sooner than previously thought.
Investors looked ahead to this week's annual meeting of top central bankers and economists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, due to begin Thursday.
The spotlight will be on Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who will speak on Friday in her first appearance at Jackson Hole as head of the U.S. central bank.
Other speakers include European Central Bank Governor Mario Draghi and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda.
Meanwhile, receding geopolitical tensions stemming from the Ukraine conflict weighed.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko are expected to meet in Belarus's capital of Minsk on August 26.
European Union officials will also be in attendance, in hopes of reaching a ceasefire or a political solution to the four-month old conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Also on the Comex, silver for September delivery inched up 0.08%, or 1.6 cents, to trade at $19.42 a troy ounce.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for September delivery tacked on 0.65%, or 2.0 cents, to trade at $3.109 a pound.