Investing.com - Gold prices eased on Wednesday with investors looking ahead to comments from the Federal Reserve on the prospects for a rate hike this year.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery eased 0.05% to trade at $1,292.30 a troy ounce.
Overnight, gold erased losses to hit the highest levels of the session on Tuesday, after data showed that U.S. durable goods orders fell unexpectedly in December, fuelling concerns over the strength of the economy.
Prices fell by as much as $7.10 earlier to hit a daily low of $1,273.30, the weakest level since January 19.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for March delivery fell 0.03% at $18.078 a troy ounce.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that total durable goods orders, which include transportation items, fell by 3.4% last month, compared to expectations for a gain of 0.5%.
Core durable goods orders, excluding volatile transportation items, declined by 0.8% in December, disappointing forecasts for a 0.6% gain.
Orders for core capital goods, a key barometer of private-sector business investment, fell by 0.6% last month, worse than expectations for a 0.9%.
Shipments of core capital goods, a category used to calculate quarterly economic growth, declined 0.2% in December, disappointing forecasts for a 1.0% gain.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for March delivery shed 0.04% to trade at $2.464 a pound.