Gold slips ahead of Fed minutes

Gold prices slipped just below the $1,300 level on Wednesday as traders prepared for the release of minutes from the last Federal Reserve policy meeting while keeping one eye on the end of the week, when Janet Yellen steps up in Jackson Hole.

Gold for December delivery GCZ4, -0.21%  shed 30 cents to $1,297 an ounce. But September silver SIU4, +0.02% turned higher, gaining 5 cents to $19.47 an ounce.

A day earlier, gold prices pulled back slightly as investors ran the Nasdaq COMP, +0.43%  up to levels not seen since March of 2000. It wasn’t just technology stocks, either. The broad market was in rally mode, sapping demand from the perceived safe haven of precious metals.

Traders will be poring over the Federal Open Market Committee minutes later in the day, looking for clues as to when the Fed will start hiking interest rates. Friday’s Yellen show in Wyoming is expected to be much more revealing.

Still, Credit Suisse analyst Tom Kendall says not to expect to much from her speech.

“We would like to be able to highlight this week’s Jackson Hole symposium as a potential source of volatility,” he said. “Unfortunately, however, recent history, Janet Yellen’s record of dovishness and current market positioning makes that less likely.”

Elsewhere in metals trading, October platinum PLV4, -0.30%  fell 90 cents, or 0.1%, to $1,438.30 an ounce while September palladium PAU4, -0.90%  fell $4.30, or 0.5%, to $876.20 an ounce. High-grade copper for September delivery HGU4, +0.70%  picked up 2 cents, or 0.7%, to $3.11 a pound.

Source: marketwatch.com