Investing.com - Gold prices dipped in Asia on Friday with a cautious eye on the Federal Reserve as debate grows on the need for a rate hike by the end of the year.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for December delivery eased 0.28% to $1,353.45 a troy ounce.
Silver futures for September delivery fell 0.34% to $19.672 a troy ounce, while copper futures for September delivery rose 0.14% to $2,171 a pound.
Overnight, gold inched up as the dollar fell to a seven-week low against its main rivals, while investors digested minutes from the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank for further indications on the scope and duration of a host of low interest rate policies from major central banks throughout the world.
Metal traders continued to react to opaque minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) July meeting, which provided few signals on whether the U.S. central bank could raise short-term interest rates before the end of the year. While some participants felt that economic conditions would soon warrant "taking another step in removing policy accommodation," at the two-day meeting on July 26-27, others judged that it would be appropriate to wait for further incoming data on the U.S. price stability as long-term inflation continues to hover below the Fed's targeted goal of 2%. Earlier this week, New York Fed president William Dudley said the timing could be right for additional tightening from the Fed, while leaving a potential September rate hike on the table.
On Thursday morning, the European Central Bank released the minutes from the Governing Council's July meeting, its first since the U.K. shocked markets with a surprising decision to leave the European Union in late-June. At the meeting, policymakers discussed steps to "contain the political uncertainty" surrounding the Brexit negotiations and "provide a clear vision," for the future path of the European Union, according to the minutes. While underscoring that the Brexit referendum provided a headwind to financial markets, the Governing Council left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at zero in July for the fourth straight month.
"It was widely felt among members that it was premature to discuss any possible monetary policy reaction at this stage," the minutes showed. "More time was needed to assess the incoming information over the coming months, although downside risks had clearly increased."
Historically, low interest rate periods are viewed as bullish for the yellow metal. Gold, which is not attached to dividends or interest rates, struggles to compete with high-yields in rising rate environments.
Elsewhere, there were 262,000 initial unemployment claims filed in the U.S. last week, a decline of 4,000 from the previous week. It marked the 76th consecutive week that new jobless claims fell under 300,000, representing the first time of such an occurrence in 43 years.