Though the Fed's meeting minutes showed some disagreement between policy hawks and doves, "the tax cuts were seen as very beneficial for economy. A higher GDP and higher consumer spending would boost the possibility for more rate hikes, which would put pressure on gold," said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist for RJO Futures in Chicago. Gold, which as a non-yielding asset is highly sensitive to rising interest rates, fell in the run-up to the third US interest rate rise of 2017 in December. But then it climbed 5 percent from its mid-month low to the year's close.
Spot gold was down 0.7 percent at $1,309.35 an ounce by 2:29 pm EST (1929 GMT), off its session high of $1,321.33. US gold futures for February delivery settled up $2.40, or 0.2 percent, at $1,318.50 per ounce. Spot gold's 14-day relative strength index (RSI) touched 75 on Tuesday, it highest since September 2017. An RSI above 70 indicates a commodity is overbought and could herald a price correction, technical analysts said.
Among other precious metals, palladium was down 0.7 percent at $1,084 an ounce after hitting a record high on Tuesday of $1,096.50. Palladium soared 56 percent in 2017 on fears that strong demand from carmakers for catalytic converters, chiefly used in gasoline-powered vehicles, would tighten the market further after years of deficit.
Spot silver was down 0.7 percent at $17.06 an ounce after earlier touching a six-week high of $17.24. Platinum was 0.6 percent higher at $949 an ounce, after touching $960.70, its highest level since September 19.