Gold prices slip ahead of Fed minutes

By Karen Rodrigues

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold prices slipped on Wednesday, pressured by a firm dollar ahead of the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting.

Spot gold was 0.1 percent lower at $1,289.71 per ounce as of 0645 GMT.

U.S. gold futures for June delivery were down 0.2 percent at $1,289.40 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, 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 tend to boost the dollar in which the metal is priced.

If investors do not like anything in particular in the Fed's wording, the dollar could resume its recent rally and possibly put pressure on gold, INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note.

Meanwhile, investors were also cautious about the outcome of U.S.-China trade talks, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was not pleased with recent talks, which had lent support to prices earlier in the session.

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 precious metals, silver was little changed at $16.52 an ounce and platinum was 0.1 percent higher at $904.10 an ounce.

Palladium slid 0.2 percent to $988.75 an ounce.

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