London — Gold steadied above $1,250 an ounce on Wednesday, taking a breather after the previous day’s fall as investors awaited minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s latest meeting for clues on the outlook for US interest rates. The metal is highly sensitive to rising US rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding nonyielding bullion, while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced. Spot gold was at $1,251.27 an ounce at 9.20am GMT, little changed from $1,250.76 late on Tuesday, when it slipped 0.7% after two days of gains. The minutes of the federal open market committee’s (FOMC’s) early May meeting were due to be released at 6pm GMT on Wednesday. Interest-rate futures on Tuesday implied that traders saw an 83% chance of a rate increase in June, up from 79% on Monday. "[Gold is] range bound today indeed, with the focus on the May FOMC minutes," Saxo Bank’s head of commodity research Ole Hansen said. "The market is looking to see whether the 75%-plus chance of a June rate h...
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