METALS

GOLD steadied yesterday as traders awaited Federal Reserve minutes later in the day and an opinion poll ahead of next week’s Swiss gold referendum, with dollar strength pulling prices back from near three-week highs.

In London, gold was fixed at $1 196 an ounce (R425 533 a kilogram) in the afternoon, up $3.25 from Tuesday’s second fix. On Tuesday spot gold peaked at $1 204.70, having slid to a low of $1 131.85 this month.

The dollar hit a fresh seven-year high against the yen yesterday as investors added favourable bets before the publication of Federal Reserve minutes that could highlight policy divergence with its peers.

Traders will be looking for clues on when the Fed will raise rates as any increase could hurt non-interest bearing gold.

“With further weakness in the yen or euro against the dollar, we could well see gold having an uphill struggle,” Jonathan Butler at Mitsubishi said. “Going forward, it’s very much going to depend on the outlook for the US economy.” – Reuters