Investing.com - Gold prices inched up during North American morning hours on Wednesday, reversing overnight losses as investors focused on the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve for further hints on the timing and pace of future rate hikes.
U.S. gold futures tacked on $2.00, or about 0.2%, to $1,240.95 a troy ounce by 8:50AM ET (13:50GMT), after ending Tuesday's session little changed. Spot gold was up 0.4% at $1,239.97 per ounce.
Prices of the yellow metal reached a three-month peak of $1,243.90 on February 8.
The Fed will release minutes of its most recent policy meeting on Wednesday at 2:00PM ET (19:00GMT). The U.S. central bank held interest rates steady following its meeting on February 1 and painted a relatively upbeat picture of the economy, although it gave no firm signal on the timing of its next rate move.
Besides the Fed minutes, there are two Fed speakers Wednesday. Central bank Governor Jerome Powell speaks at 1:00PM ET (18:00GMT) in New York at the Forecasters Club of New York on the economic outlook and policy. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan discusses issues facing the global economy at a Dallas Fed event at 7:05PM ET.
On the data front, Wednesday's calendar features existing home sales for January at 10AM ET (15:00GMT).
Fed fund futures priced in about a 22% chance of a rate hike in March, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool. Odds of a May increase was seen at around 50%, while June odds were at 73%.
The precious metal is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion, while boosting the dollar in which it is priced.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.1% to 101.58 in New York morning trade, within sight of last week's more than one-month high of 101.75.
Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year U.S. government bond dipped to 2.395%.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for March delivery shed 1.4 cents, or 0.1%, to $17.98 a troy ounce.
Meanwhile, platinum was down 0.2% to $1,004.50, while palladium dropped 0.3%, to $776.75 an ounce.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper futures shed 2.1 cents, or about 0.8%, to $2.724 a pound, despite concerns over supply disruptions in Chile and Indonesia supported prices.
Prices of the red metal rallied to a 20-month peak of $2.822 last week after strikes at BHP Billiton (LON:BLT)'s Chilean Escondida and Freeport McMoran (NYSE:FCX)'s Indonesian Grasberg mine.
Combined, the mines produce roughly 10% of the world's total copper supply.