Investing.com - Gold futures were higher on Wednesday, as investors positioned themselves ahead of Federal Reserve meeting minutes due to be published later in the day.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for August delivery rose to a session high of $1,328.30 a troy ounce, the most since July 2, before trimming gains to last trade at $1,326.90 during U.S. morning hours, up 0.79%, or $10.40.
Gold ended Tuesday’s session down 0.04%, or 50 cents, to settle at $1,316.50. Futures were likely to find support at $1,309.40, the low from July 3 and near-term resistance at $1,334.90, the high from July 1.
Also on the Comex, silver for September delivery tacked on 0.93%, or 19.5 cents, to trade at $21.20 a troy ounce.
Markets were looking the minutes of the Fed’s June meeting for further indications on its monetary policy stance. The Fed was widely expected to stick to its dovish stance amid concerns over ongoing slow growth in inflation and wages in the U.S.
Investors remained cautious amid concerns that recent U.S. data showing that the labor market is continuing to strengthen will not be enough to prompt the Fed to bring forward its timetable for raising interest rates.
Official data late last week showed that the U.S. economy added a larger-than-forecast 288,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 6.1%, the lowest in almost six years.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for September delivery advanced 0.44%, or 1.4 cents, to trade at $3.271 a pound.
Data released earlier showed that consumer price inflation in China rose 2.3% in June from a year earlier, slowing from 2.5% in May and compared to expectations for 2.4%.
A separate report showed that producer price inflation declined 1.1% last month after falling 1.4% in May. Analysts had expected producer prices to fall 1% in June.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption.