• Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Wednesday ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting minutes as the U.S. dollar trended higher.
• The most active gold contract for March delivery fell 5.6 U.S. dollars, or 0.45 percent, to settle at1,233.30 dollars per ounce. The U.S. Dollar index rose 0.2 percent to 101.53 as of 1845 GMT.
• Gold prices had been struggling and trading roughly $3.00 lower this morning. However prices firmed immediately following the release of the Fed minutes from the most recent FOMC meeting. Spot gold is now trading up, with a net gain of approximately two dollars at $1237.57 per ounce (3:30 EST). The majority of today’s net change in gold prices is directly due to the falling value of the US dollar. Trading modestly higher this morning, the US dollar began to selloff immediately following today’s release of the Fed minutes.
• According to the CME Group's Fedwatch tool, the current implied probability of a hike from 0.50 to at least 0.75 is at 27 percent at the March meeting and 53 percent for the May meeting.
• Traders are looking to the remainder of this week for the initial jobless claims report due on Thursday, and new home sales report on Friday.
• Silver for March delivery fell 5.1 cents, or 0.28 percent, to close at 17.95 dollars per ounce.
Reference: Xinhua, Kitco
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