Gold prices edged lower on Wednesday on a slightly firmer dollar, while investors held back from making big bets ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision on Federal Reserve appointments.

Alessia Pierdomenico | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Gold prices edged lower on Wednesday on a slightly firmer dollar, while investors held back from making big bets ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision on Federal Reserve appointments.

Spot gold was down 0.1% at $3,376.01 per ounce, as of 0312 GMT, after hitting a near two-week high on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1% to $3,431.10.

The dollar rebounded from a one-week low hit in the previous session, reducing gold’s appeal to other currency holders.

“We see that gold prices are consolidating and actually are on a slight upward bias,” said Brian Lan, managing director at GoldSilver Central, Singapore.

“We expect gold prices to actually test a higher trading band like $3,393 and we might see it testing $3,400.”

Trump on Tuesday said he would announce decisions soon on a short-term replacement for Fed Governor Adriana Kugler, who announced her resignation on Friday, as well as his pick for the next Fed chair.

The CME FedWatch tool now puts the odds of a September cut at nearly 87%, after Friday’s weaker-than-expected employment growth data, following which Trump fired the commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 

On the trade front, Trump again threatened to raise tariffs on goods from India over its Russian oil purchases, while New Delhi called his attack “unjustified” and vowed to protect its economic interests, deepening the trade rift between the two countries.

Elsewhere, the Perth Mint’s gold product sales fell 33% in July from the previous month, while silver sales slipped to a six-month low, the refiner said on Wednesday.

Spot silver was steady at $37.82 per ounce, platinum slipped 0.5% to $1,313.94 and palladium fell 1% to $1,164.15.