Investing.com - Gold prices were little changed near the prior session's one-week in European trading on Wednesday, as investors awaited fresh signals about the timing of the next U.S. interest rate hike while looking ahead to an upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Comex gold futures dipped 95 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $1,257.45 a troy ounce by 2:55AM ET (06:55GMT). Meanwhile, spot gold was down 60 cents at $1,255.60.
The yellow metal settled higher for the third session in a row on Tuesday after hitting its strongest since March 27 at $1,263.70.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for May delivery shed 5.0 cents, or about 0.3%, to $18.27 a troy ounce. It reached its highest since March 2 at $18.43 in the prior session.
The Federal Reserve will release minutes of its most recent policy meeting on Wednesday at 2:00PM ET (18:00GMT). The U.S. central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points following its meeting on March 15 and stuck to its projection for two more hikes this year.
Besides the Fed minutes, Wednesday' calendar also features the ADP private sector nonfarm payrolls report and the ISM non-manufacturing survey.
Market experts do not expect the Fed to raise interest rates again until June, especially in light of recent softening data.
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 77%.
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.
Meanwhile, 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 and North Korea, "will be a very difficult one."
North Korea fired a ballistic missile early on Wednesday from its east coast into the sea off the Peninsula, South Korea's military said, ahead of the Trump-Xi summit.
The U.S. dollar index was little changed at 100.41 in London morning trade, while the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield held steady at 2.35%.
Elsewhere in metals trading, platinum tacked on 0.3% to $967.10, while palladium firmed at $806.65 an ounce.
May copper futures climbed 3.3 cents to $2.645 a pound.