Gold edges up; market eyes China-U.S. trade talks, Fed minutes

By Karen Rodrigues

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold prices rose slightly on Wednesday amid a firm dollar and uncertainty over the outcome of U.S.-China trade talks, while investors waited for minutes from the Federal Reserve's meeting for clues on the outlook for U.S. interest rates.

Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,292.56 per ounce, as of 0329 GMT.

U.S. gold futures for June delivery were unchanged at $1,291.90 per ounce.

"We were quite steady this morning, but are running out of steam with dollar being quite firm," a Hong Kong-based trader said.

"We want to see what FOMC minutes have in store for us... I think (investors) are looking at anything out of the ordinary that could raise the market," the trader said.

The dollar inched higher versus a basket of currencies on Wednesday, with investors awaiting minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting due later in the day for hints on the pace of further U.S. monetary tightening.

At the previous policy meeting in May, the U.S. central bank expressed confidence in the economy and kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged and said inflation was near the bank's target, leaving it on track to raise borrowing costs in June.

The markets will shift to the FOMC minutes for inflation updates as any suggestion that the Feds do see a pick-up beyond their 2 percent target could be interpreted bullishly for gold, which should find support as an inflation hedge, Stephen Innes, APAC trading head at OANDA said in a note.

Gold is highly sensitive to rising U.S. rates, as these increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion, while boosting the dollar in which the metal is priced.

Meanwhile, Asian shares were slightly lower as investors were cautious after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was not pleased with recent trade talks between the United States and China, tempering optimism over progress made so far in trade talks between the world's two largest economies.

Trump also said there was a "substantial chance" his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will not take place as planned on June 12 amid concerns that Kim is resistant to giving up his nuclear weapons.

Political tensions can boost demand for save-haven assets such as gold and the Japanese yen.

In other metals, silver climbed 0.1 percent to $16.53 an ounce, while platinum slipped 0.2 percent to $901.50 an ounce.

Palladium slid 0.1 percent to $989.90 an ounce.

(Reporting by Karen Rodrigues in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)