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PRECIOUS-Gold slips as equities gain; investors eye Fed minutes

Wed, 21st Aug 2019 16:26

* FOMC minutes due at 1800 GMT

* Markets also awaiting Fed's Jackson Hole symposium

* SPDR Gold holdings up by about 17 tonnes so far in August(Updates prices)

By Sumita Layek and Asha Sistla

Aug 21 (Reuters) - Gold edged lower on Wednesday as equitiesgained and investors awaited minutes from the U.S. FederalReserve's July meeting for clues on future interest rate cuts.

Spot gold was down 0.2% at $1,504.00 per ounce at1:45 p.m. EDT (1745 GMT).

U.S. gold futures settled at $1,515.70.

"(Market participants) are just being cautious ahead of theFOMC minutes; they're just taking gold off," said PhillipStreible, senior commodities strategist at RJO Futures.

"There seem to be spouts of optimism as far as the tradedeal and the economy go, and these glimmers of hope are drivinga rally in equities and people are jumping out of safety to takeon risk through equities."

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the United Statesis "doing great with China and other trade deals," whilepressuring the Fed to lower interest rates, saying its policieswere hampering U.S. growth and reducing the country's ability tocompete economically.

Minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's most recentmeeting in July - when the U.S. central bank cut interest ratesfor the first time in a decade, by a quarter of a percentagepoint - are due at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT).

"If the FOMC doesn't give any indication that they areconsidering cutting rates or doing any kind of quantitativeeasing, then gold futures will most likely continue to breakdown," Streible said

Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost ofholding nonyielding bullion and weigh on the dollar, making goldcheaper for investors holding other currencies.

U.S. stocks rose broadly following upbeat retail earnings,while U.S. Treasury yields rose as rising stock prices reflectedimproving risk sentiment.

"Still, the precious metals market bulls should not be toodisappointed in price action so far this week, as it can beargued gold and silver are showing resilience in the face ofrallying global stock markets this week," Jim Wyckoff, senioranalyst with Kitco Metals, wrote in a note.

Bullion has risen more than $100 since the beginning ofAugust on concerns over the outlook for the global economy andthe prospect of more U.S. interest rate cuts.

The central bank's annual seminar in Jackson Hole, Wyoming,later this week is also eagerly awaited, with the major focus ona scheduled speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Indicative of sentiment, holdings of the world's largestgold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, haveincreased by about 17 tonnes so far this month, and stood at845.17 tonnes on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, silver rose 0.1% to $17.14 per ounce,while platinum edged 0.8% higher to $855.00.

Palladium was down 1.5% at $1,469.14 per ounce.(Reporting by Asha Sistla and Sumita Layek in Bengaluru;editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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