London — Gold steadied just above $1,250 an ounce on Wednesday, taking a breather after the previous day’s fall as investors awaited minutes of the 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 non-yielding bullion, while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced. Spot gold XAU= was at $1,251.83 an ounce at 13:30 GMT, little changed from $1,250.76 late on Tuesday, when it slipped 0.7 percent after two days of gains.The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s early May meeting are due to be released at 18:00 GMT. Interest rate futures on Tuesday implied traders saw about an 83 percent chance of a rate increase in June, up from 79% on Monday."(We’re in) wait and see mode ahead of the FOMC minutes later today and the OPEC meeting tomorrow," Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said, adding that the Fed is likely to signal further gradual rate hikes.E...
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