Singapore: Gold steadied near two-week highs on Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's policy meeting showed that officials were not keen on increasing interest rates anytime soon.
Fundamentals
Spot gold was flat at $1,311.45 an ounce , after rising for the last two sessions.
The minutes from the Fed's March 18-19 meeting showed policymakers were unanimous in wanting to ditch the thresholds they had used to telegraph a policy tightening and did not reveal any discussion of keeping rates near zero for a "considerable time," as the Fed mentioned in a policy statement issued after the meeting.
Gold stocks sitting inside U.S. exchange warehouses have risen to a 10-month high as physical buying has continued to weaken, underscoring concerns about slowing demand from Asia.
Russia's biggest gold miner Polyus Gold (PGIL.L) is considering delisting from London, Kommersant newspaper said, which would make it the first Russian company to heed a call by officials to bring assets home to survive Western sanctions.
South Africa-based coal producer Exxaro (EXXJ.J) hopes to diversify into platinum group metals and is looking at opportunities which could include assets Anglo American (AAL.L) has signaled it might divest.
Asian shares look to extend recent solid gains on Thursday, while the dollar drifted at three-week lows against a basket of major currencies.
