Investing.com - Gold prices held steady on Wednesday, as market participants continued to monitor trade talks between the U.S. and China.
Comex gold futures were at $1,313.35 a troy ounce by 7:25AM ET (12:25 GMT), down 65 cents.
Meanwhile, spot gold was trading at $1,310.47 per ounce, down 34 cents.
Markets will be keeping abreast of ongoing trade discussions between the U.S. and China to see if any more news materializes amid recent signs the world's two biggest economies are working to resolve their differences.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he could be tempted to push back the March 1 deadline to reach an agreement if the two sides were close a deal.
"There's still a level of uncertainty there but at least the rhetoric does not show he is digging his heels in, so the market has quite rightly taken it as a positive," said Justin Onuekwusi, fund manager at Legal & General Investment Management.
Developments on the political front also remained in focus after Trump said Tuesday a second government shutdown was unlikely, even as he expressed unhappiness with the tentative agreement reached by Democratic and Republican lawmakers earlier in the week.
Looking ahead, investors will get key inflation data when the Commerce Department releases January CPI figures at 8:30AM ET (13:30 GMT).
Speeches from Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Philly Fed boss Patrick Harker will also capture the market's attention.
In other metals trading, silver futures fell 4.2 cents, or about 0.25%, to trade at $15.64 a troy ounce.
Palladium futures inched up 0.5% to $1,383.10.
Platinum was up roughly 0.2% at $791.40.
-- Reuters contributed to this report