Investing.com - Gold prices were little changed on Thursday, consolidating the prior session’s gains in holiday-thinned trade.
At 8:24 AM ET (13:24 GMT), gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $1.00, or 0.08%, to $1,229.00 a troy ounce.
Trading was expected to remain muted until Monday due to Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S.
Gold received a boost on Wednesday after MNI, citing “senior people at the Fed”, reported that the central bank will consider a pause to the rate hikes cycle as early as spring. These sources said that a rate hike in December is all but a done deal but indicated that the debate will become more lively beginning in March and certainly by June.
Traders have begun to question if the central bank can continue to increase rates without risking a slowdown in the U.S. economy.
Markets currently expect the Fed to increase rates at the upcoming Dec. 19 meeting and policymakers themselves had forecast there to be three additional hikes in 2019.
The following meeting will produce updated economic projections which include interest rate forecasts.
A slower-than-expected pace of interest rate increases would lessen the pressure on non-yielding bullion.
In other metals trading, silver futures lost 0.12% at $14.485 a troy ounce by 8:25 AM ET (13:25 GMT).
Palladium futures fell 0.19% to $1,131.00 an ounce, while sister metal platinum advanced 0.24% at $852.60.
In base metals, copper traded down 0.23% to $2.788 a pound.