Investing.com - Gold prices dropped in Asia on Thursday as China markets returned from holidays and investors stake positions ahead of Fed minutes later in the day.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for December delivery fell 0.34% to $1,144.80, while silver futures for December delivery dropped 0.74% to $15.975 a troy ounce.
Copper for December delivery fell 0.20% to $2.362 a pound.
Investors await the release of the minutes from the Fed's September meeting on Thursday for further hints on whether the U.S. central bank could raise short-term interest rates before the end of the year.
Overnight, gold futures were relatively unchanged on Wednesday amid a flat dollar.
Last month, the FOMC voted to leave its benchmark Federal Funds Rate at its current rate between zero and 0.25%, marking the 55th consecutive meeting it decided to keep the rate unchanged at a near-zero level.
While one member of the FOMC, Richmond Fed president Jeffrey Lacker voted for an increase of 0.25%, four others felt that the Fed should wait until 2016 before raising short-term rates. By comparison in June, only two FOMC members were in favor of delaying a rate hike until next year.
While the FOMC indicated that it had seen significant improvements in the U.S. economy since it last met in July, it also expressed concern that significant headwinds from weakness in China and the global economy overall could restrain domestic growth.
Following the meeting, Fed chair Janet Yellen said it was likely the FOMC could hike rates by the end of the year barring unforeseen events over the next several weeks. Last week, though, a dismal U.S. jobs report for September could have planted seeds of doubt among FOMC members whether a rate hike this year should be appropriate.
On Tuesday, San Francisco Fed president John Williams reiterated that he still believes the FOMC will raise rates in 2015. Even so, Williams expects the pace of rate hikes to be the "most gradual tightening cycle in the history of the Fed."
A rate hike is viewed as bearish for Gold, which struggles to compete with high-yield bearing assets in rising rate environments.