Investing.com - Gold and silver prices declined on Wednesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting due later in the session.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery traded in a range between $1,314.50 a troy ounce and $1,323.00 an ounce.
Gold prices last traded at $1,320.60 an ounce during European morning hours, down 0.3%. Futures rose to $1,332 an ounce on Tuesday, the most since October 31, before trimming gains to settle at $1,324.40 an ounce, up 0.44%.
Prices were likely to find support at $1,299.90 a troy ounce, the low from February 14 and resistance at $1,332.40, the high from February 18.
Meanwhile, silver for March delivery held in a range between $21.63 a troy ounce and $21.95 an ounce. Prices last traded at $21.81 an ounce.
The March contract rallied to $21.98 on Tuesday, the highest since November 7, before paring gains to settle at $21.89 an ounce, up 2.23%.
Silver futures were likely to find support at $21.31 a troy ounce, the low from February 18 and resistance at $22.00, the high from November 7.
Investors were looking ahead to the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting later in the trading day, when the bank voted to cut its stimulus program by another $10 billion to $65 billion per month.
Earlier this month Fed Chair Janet Yellen indicated that the central bank is on track to maintain the pace of reductions to its stimulus program, as long as the economy continues to improve as expected.
Data on Tuesday showed that the Empire State manufacturing index fell more-than-expected in February as new orders dropped.
A separate report showed foreign investors sold almost $120 billion of U.S. assets in December.
Later Wednesday, the country was to publish reports on building permits, housing starts and producer price inflation.
Gold and silver prices have been well-supported in recent weeks amid concerns that the U.S. economic recovery has lost momentum since the end of last year as inclement winter weather weighed on growth.
Gold has gained nearly 7% since the beginning of the year, while silver has picked up approximately 8%.
Elsewhere on the Comex, copper futures for March delivery rose 0.2% to trade at $3.292 a pound.
Copper traders looked ahead to key Chinese manufacturing data on Thursday to gauge the strength of the world’s second largest economy and biggest consumer of the industrial metal.