Investing.com - Gold futures were trading near three-week highs on Friday, as the minutes of the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting continued to support the precious metal, while markets awaited the release of U.S. data later in the day.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery traded at $1,322.10 a troy ounce during European afternoon trade, up 0.12%.
The June contract settled 1.12% higher on Thursday to end at $1,320.5 a troy ounce.
Gold futures were likely to find support at $1,301.20 a troy ounce, the low from April 9 and resistance at $1,334.90, the high from March 24.
Gold prices strengthend after the Fed’s March meeting minutes released on Wednesday showed that policymakers discussed whether to keep interest rates at record lows until inflation moves higher, and did not elaborate on a possible timeframe for when rates could start to rise.
The minutes also indicated growing concerns among officials over persistently low inflation.
Last month the U.S. central bank reduced the monthly pace of purchases by $10 billion, to $55 billion, and repeated it is likely to continue paring the program in “further measured steps.”
“Members agreed that there was sufficient underlying strength in the broader economy to support ongoing improvement in labor-market conditions,” the minutes said.
Gold prices had tumbled from a six-month high in mid-March, after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said that interest rates could start to rise around six months after the end of the Fed's bond purchasing program, suggesting a rate hike could occur in the early part of 2015.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for May delivery dipped 0.03% to trade at $20.085 a troy ounce, while copper for May delivery gained 0.83% to trade at $3.070 a pound.