Gold futures ended Wednesday at their highest level since late January, buoyed by geopolitical tensions focused on Syria and elsewhere that put the haven metal in demand.
June gold GCM8, -0.37% rose $14.10, or 1.1%, to settle at $1,360 an ounce. That was the highest finish since Jan. 25.
In electronic trading shortly after minutes from the Federal Reserve's March meeting, however, gold futures fell from the settlement to $1,354.40. The minutes reinforced the view that more interest-rate increases are on tap. Higher interest rates can boost the dollar and dull demand for dollar-denominated commodities.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.02% which measures the greenback against six major rivals, was up less than 0.1% at 89.65 after the Fed minutes, but traded off the session low of 89.36. Commodities priced in dollars often trade inversely with the dollar, as moves in the U.S. unit can influence the attractiveness of those commodities to holders of other currencies.
U.S. stocks traded mostly lower, which helped boost investment demand for gold during the regular trading session.
Investor attention has momentarily shifted from anxieties over trade conflicts to concerns about a possible military strike against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for an alleged government-led chemical-weapons attack. Rising anxieties in the Middle East, and the possibility of drawing a response from Syrian allies, Iran and Russia, have attracted some investors to safety investments, including gold, the yen and bonds.
"Both yellow and 'black' golds [oil] are currently finding support from heightened fear among investors that the U.S. and its allies may soon launch a military strike against Syria," said Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst with Forex.com.
Political tensions added to the climate. Renewed concerns that President Donald Trump will fire special counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein-igniting a political furor in Washington amid an expanding probe into the 2016 presidential campaign and its ties to Russia-also is pressuring assets perceived as risky and buoying havens.
Gold had added slightly to its already fairly robust move when a report early Wednesday showed that the consumer-price index fell 0.1% in March as expected, to mark the first drop in 10 months. Lower gasoline prices carried the report, while Americans paid more for almost everything else as inflation continues to creep higher. Still, the tepid report may help keep Fed rate-hike aggressiveness in check, a positive for gold.
In other metals trading, May silver SIK8, -0.61% also rose 1% to $16.768 an ounce.
In exchange-traded funds, the SPDR Gold Shares GLD, +0.78% gained 0.9%. The iShares Silver Trust SLV, +0.45% climbed 0.7%, while the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners GDX, +2.20% climbed 2.3%.
Meanwhile, copper for May deliveryHGK8, +0.00% settled at $3.117 a pound, down 0.6%, on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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July platinum PLN8, +0.05% rose 0.1% to $934.30 an ounce, while June palladium PAM8, -0.23% ended at $960.95, up 1.2%.