The most active gold contract for February delivery fell 30.60 U.S. dollars, or 1.48 percent, to close at 2,042.80 dollars per ounce.
Shortly after the floor trading of gold closed, the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) December meeting was released. Fed officials held that rates had peaked but the outlook remained uncertain. They did not rule out further rate hikes.
In remarks prepared for delivery to the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce in North Carolina on Wednesday, Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin said on Wednesday that said he had no way to forecast the timing of possible rate hikes or cuts, and that the policy changes will depend on economic data.
Barkin said risks to a soft landing remain, including the delayed impacts from the current high interest rates which hit harder than expected, and the outside shocks or stickier-than-expected inflation which make a full return to the Fed's target more difficult than anticipated.
Economic data released on Wednesday supported gold. The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) manufacturing index was 47.4 percent in December 2023, up from November's 46.7 percent. Though slightly higher than the consensus estimate, the figure was still firmly under the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction.
The U.S. Labor Department reported that U.S. employers posted 8.8 million job openings in November, down slightly from October and the fewest since March 2021.
U.S. big jobs report is due out on Friday.
Silver for March delivery fell 79.60 cents, or 3.32 percent, to close at 23.157 dollars per ounce. Platinum for April delivery fell 11.20 dollars, or 1.12 percent, to close at 987.10 dollars per ounce.
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