FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold held steady at $2,377.48 an ounce at 0113 GMT. Bullion hit a record high of 2,449.89 on Monday.
* US gold futures fell 0.6% to $2,378.20.
* Federal Reserve officials indicated it would take longer than expected to gain greater confidence in inflation reaching 2%, according to minutes of the U.S. central bank’s April 30-May 1 session .
* Recent data suggests U.S. inflation has resumed its downward trend, but several Fed policymakers remained cautious about cutting rates too soon but ruled out the need for a hike.
* Trader bets signaled growing doubts that the Fed will cut rates more than once in 2024.
* Bullion is known as a hedge against inflation, but higher rates increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.
* Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said he does not expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year.
* Asian markets could be delicately balanced at the open, with growing concerns over how quickly US and global interest rates will fall, offset by a possible rise in profits from the AI and manufacturing giant of Nvidia chips Wednesday evening.
* Shares in global mining group BHP fell more than 3%, a day after rival Anglo American rejected its third takeover proposal and agreed to a one-week extension of the deadline to make a firm offer.
* Spot silver fell 0.7% to $30.56 an ounce, platinum fell 0.4% to $1,031.04 and palladium lost 1.5% to $985.00.
