Gold muted as market waits on US CPI

Spot gold barely moved on Wednesday, slipping 0.15 per cent to $4,160.66 an ounce, Mettis Global reported. Traders held back ahead of the US consumer price index release, due at 1230 GMT, which could guide expectations on the Federal Reserve's next move. Producer price index and retail sales figures follow on Thursday.

New York Fed President John Williams repeated that one more rate increase this year could be needed to bring inflation down. Fed Governor Christopher Waller told CNBC that the recent climb in US bond yields signals firmer growth rather than rising inflation expectations, which he sees as stable. CME's FedWatch Tool shows traders assigning about a 23 per cent chance to a hike this month and 88 per cent to one in December.

Oil prices rose after Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry reported an attack on Saudi Aramco's administrative building in Dhahran, as clashes between the Iran-allied Houthis and the kingdom in Yemen escalated. Among other metals, silver dropped 0.6 per cent to $59.11 an ounce, while palladium gained 0.4 per cent to $1,130.81 and platinum stayed at $1,664.19.