Investing.com - Gold prices eased in Asia on Wednesday as investors geared for Fed meetings later in the day for more insight on the rate path in 2018.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 0.14% to 1,279.89 a troy ounce.
With Fed minutes from the November meeting due, analysts do not expect anything in the comments to dissuade market participants from assigning a high likelihood of a December rate hike.
"In turn, we would not be surprised to see officials beginning to discuss potentially major changes to elements of its operating framework that could include the inflation target or other related strategies such as price level targeting," according to an analyst note.
Former Fed chair Bernanke has also recently weighed in on this topic, arguing in favor of temporary price level targeting if the fed funds rate hits the effective lower bound in the future.
Overnight, gold prices rose on Tuesday after the dollar fell amid weakness in long-term yields ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's October meeting meetings slated for Wednesday.
Long-term treasury yields remained under pressure, weighing on the dollar, while boosting demand for gold as traders awaited the minutes of the Federal Reserve October meeting for clues on future monetary policy action.
The prospect of a December rate hike appears to be fully priced in, according to investing.com’s fed rate monitor tool.
Gold is sensitive to moves lower in the U.S. dollar – A weaker dollar makes gold cheaper for holders of foreign currency, which increases demand for the precious metal.
Also adding to positive sentiment on the precious metal was the return of safe haven demand amid renewed U.S-North Korea tensions after President Donald Trump placed North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday.