• Gold steadied after falling for a fourth consecutive day, as Federal Reserve policymakers pushed back against expectations for aggressive monetary easing early in 2024.
• Minutes from the central bank’s December meeting released Wednesday showed policymakers agreed that it would be appropriate to maintain a restrictive stance “for some time,” while acknowledging they were probably at the peak rate and would begin cutting in 2024.
• The metal hit a record in early December and ended the year 13% higher on speculation the Fed was set to loosen monetary policy as inflation abates and the labor market cools, which would benefit non-yielding assets.