Bengaluru — Gold held steady on Thursday to keep most of its gains from the previous session, with the dollar slipping after minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting downplayed the chance of more aggressive interest rate increases. The minutes showed policy makers agreed they should hold off on raising interest rates until it was clear a recent US economic slowdown was temporary, although most said an increase was coming soon. 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 nonyielding bullion. Spot gold was nearly flat at $1,258.61/oz by 3.26am GMT. It rose about 0.6% on Wednesday. US gold futures were up 0.5% at $1,258.7/oz. "I do not think the market’s view for two more rate hikes has changed following the release of the Fed meeting minutes," said Argonaut Securities analyst Helen Lau. "It was not a very strong view from the Federal open market committee and hence ...
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