Investing.com - Gold futures traded near a two-week low on Wednesday, as market players awaited 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 inched up 0.03%, or 40 cents, to trade at $1,297.10 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours.
Prices fell to a session low of $1,292.70 an ounce earlier, the weakest since August 6.
A day earlier, gold futures shed 0.2%, or $2.60, to settle at $1,296.70 after upbeat U.S. housing 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.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,288.50, the low from August 6 and resistance at $1,304.90, the high from August 18.
Investors looked ahead to the release of minutes from the Fed's July policy meeting later Wednesday, as well as comments from the U.S. central bank's three-day conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which starts on 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 President 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 rose 0.44%, or 8.6 cents, to trade at $19.49 a troy ounce.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for September delivery tacked on 0.9%, or 2.8 cents, to trade at $3.116 a pound.