Gold edged higher on Wednesday (August 20th) but remained near a three-week low, as investors awaited the minutes of the Federal Reserve's July meeting and this week's Jackson Hole, Wyoming, central banking symposium for clues on further interest rate cuts.

Spot gold rose 0.2% to $3,321.33 an ounce, as of 08:32 GMT, after hitting its lowest level since August 1st. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.2% to $3,364.20.

The U.S. dollar index steadied after hitting a more than one-week high earlier in the session, making gold more expensive for holders of other currencies. "Spot gold is likely to remain in its sideways range until the Fed can resume its rate-cutting cycle, while the dollar's resilience on a monthly basis also makes it difficult for it to move higher," said Han Tan, chief market analyst at investment trading platform Nemo Money.

The Fed's July meeting minutes, due to be released later, are expected to provide further insight into the central bank's economic outlook. "The market will be looking for further clues about dissenting voices from the last FOMC meeting. Gold could even strengthen slightly before Jackson Hole if the FOMC minutes show that dissenting voices at the previous Fed policy meeting were louder than expected," added Tan of Nemo.Money.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at the Jackson Hole symposium hosted by the Kansas City Federal Reserve on Friday. Gold typically performs well in low interest rates and times of economic and geopolitical uncertainty.

On the geopolitical front, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ruled out deploying ground troops to Ukraine, but hinted that air support could be part of a deal to end Russia's war in the region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised the White House talks as a "major step forward" toward ending the conflict and set the stage for a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump.

Elsewhere, spot silver fell 1% to $36.98 an ounce, platinum rose 0.4% to $1,311.05, and palladium fell 0.8% to $1,105.98.(alg)

Source: Reuters