LONDON: Gold steadied just above $1,250 an ounce on Wednesday, taking a breather after the previous day’s fall as investors awaited minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting for clues on the outlook for US interest rates.

The metal is highly sensitive to rising US rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion, while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced.

Spot gold XAU was at $1,251.83 an ounce at 1330 GMT, little changed from $1,250.76 late on Tuesday, when it slipped 0.7 per cent after two days of gains.

US gold futures for June delivery were down $3.30 an ounce at $1,252.20. Among other precious metals, silver was up 0.1pc at $17.04 an ounce, while platinum was 0.1pc higher at $940.60 an ounce.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2017