Gold: XAU Extends Gains After Minutes.

Gold traded above $4,990 per ounce on Wednesday, extending gains as investors digested the latest FOMC minutes and recalibrated expectations for US monetary policy. The FOMC minutes revealed a split between participants who would consider cuts if disinflation proceeds and others who favoured holding or tightening if inflation proved persistent. Fed Governor Michael Barr leaned toward keeping rates on hold for some time and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said cuts could be possible later if the data allow. Although the Fed left its benchmark rate unchanged at 3.5%–3.75% and signaled that progress toward the 2% target could be slower and more uneven, markets continue to price a data-dependent path that leaves room for easing later this year. That ambiguity has sustained gold’s appeal as a hedge against policy missteps and macro uncertainty, even as improved risk sentiment in equities and ongoing geopolitical negotiations temper the urgency of safe-haven flows.