Gold Pares Losses After Fed Minutes

Gold prices pared losses Wednesday, after minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent meeting showed officials remained divided on whether a recent soft patch in consumer prices will last.

Gold for December delivery was recently down 0.1% at $1,292.30 a troy ounce in electronic trading. Prices closed at $1,288.90 a troy ounce in regular trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Several officials said their decision on another rate move this year would depend on whether the economic data in coming months showed that inflation was set to move higher. Others worried holding off on raising interest rates too long could lead to a surge in inflation that would be difficult to control.

Expectations for a more hawkish Fed have pressured gold prices over the last several weeks, as the metal struggles to compete with yield-bearing investments when rates rise.

In other precious metals, palladium for December delivery rose 2.7% to $958.95 a troy ounce. Prices for the metal are up around 6% from their September lows on expectations of heightened demand for gasoline-powered vehicles, where palladium is used to reduce emissions.

Palladium prices surpassed those of its sister metal, platinum, for the first time in 16 years last month. Platinum is used to reduce emissions in diesel-powered vehicles.

But prices for platinum, which more closely tracks gold, could get a boost if the Fed is not as hawkish as expected in 2018, said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategy at TD Securities. January platinum was down 0.4% at $933.20 a troy ounce.

In base metals, copper for December delivery was up 1.1% at $3.0955 a pound.

Write to Ira Iosebashvili at ira.iosebashvili@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 11, 2017 15:14 ET (19:14 GMT)