Gold steady as Fed inflation concerns weigh on dollar

By Vijaykumar Vedala

(Reuters) - Gold prices remained stuck in a narrow range on Friday as the dollar remained under pressure after minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting revealed that some policymakers were concerned about lower inflation.

Spot gold was nearly unchanged at $1,291.06 per ounce, as of 0748 GMT. Bullion was down about 0.3 percent for the week.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery dipped 0.1 percent to $1,290.70.

"Investor appetite (for gold) is low even after slightly more dovish-than-expected Fed minutes. There just has not been enough to entice investors back into the market in great amounts," ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes said.

"Investors are still a bit cautious even though the December rate hike is well expected. They aren't willing to put any aggressive decisions in place before that hike comes through," he added.

Many Fed policymakers expect interest rates to be raised in the "near term," according to the minutes of the U.S. central bank's last policy meeting released on Wednesday.

However, some members expressed concern over the inflation outlook and emphasized they would be looking at upcoming economic data before deciding the timing of future rate rises.

The Fed's cautious view of inflation could lead to a longer period of low interest rates which provides a solid platform for gold investment, said Cameron Alexander, an analyst with Thomson Reuters-owned metals consultancy GFMS.

Higher interest rates tend to boost the dollar and push bond yields up, putting pressure on gold prices by increasing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Spot gold has aborted a bearish target at $1,283 per ounce as it seems to have found a support at $1,288 and is biased to break above a resistance at $1,296, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

"Gold is moving in a very tight range with no clear driver for gold - either up or down," Argonaut Securities analyst Helen Lau said.

"So far we don't see any driver in the short-term and it is likely to stay range-bound for some time."

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against a basket of six major rival currencies, was little changed at 93.214.

Among other precious metals, silver rose 0.4 percent to $17.12 an ounce, and platinum gained 0.4 percent to $936.90 an ounce.

Palladium dipped 0.2 percent to $1,009.80 an ounce after hitting a two-week high of $1,013.70 in the previous session.

Silver slipped 1.2 percent for the week and is poised for its first weekly decline in three. Platinum lost 1.5 percent, on track for its first weekly fall in four.

Palladium climbed as much as 1.7 percent.

(Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)