Investing.com - Gold prices edged higher in European trading on Thursday, bouncing back from the prior session's losses as investors shied away from riskier assets ahead of an upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Comex gold futures tacked on $6.85, or around 0.6%, to $1,255.35 a troy ounce by 3:13AM ET (07:13GMT). Meanwhile, spot gold was down $2.20 at $1,253.30.
The yellow metal settled lower for the first time in four sessions on Wednesday.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for May delivery inched up 4.0 cents, or about 0.2%, to $18.22 a troy ounce. It fell 13.6 cents in the prior session.
Market players are awaiting President Donald Trump's first meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday.
Last week, Trump tweeted that the meeting, which is expected to cover differences over trade, currencies and North Korea, "will be a very difficult one."
That has kept investors on edge, knocking riskier assets, such as stocks, and forcing investors to seek shelter in safe-haven assets such as the yen, gold and U.S. Treasuries.
Meanwhile, investors digested minutes from the Federal Reserve's March policy meeting released on Wednesday, which showed that the central bank would start to unwind its $4.5 trillion balance sheet later this year.
The U.S. dollar index was slightly higher at 100.55 in London morning trade, while the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was at around at 2.33%.
Market experts do not expect the Fed to raise interest rates again until June. Futures traders are pricing in around a 55% chance of a hike at the Fed's June meeting, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool. Odds of a September increase was seen at about 75%.
The precious metal is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion. A gradual path to higher rates is seen as less of a threat to gold prices than a swift series of increases.
Elsewhere in metals trading, platinum tacked on 0.1% to $960.75, while palladium firmed at $807.75 an ounce. Palladium hit an over two-year high of $815.70 in the prior session.
May copper futures shed 1.1 cents to $2.669 a pound, after getting a boost from news of a strike at the Peruvian operations of Southern Copper on Wednesday.