Forexpros - Gold futures were little changed during U.S. morning hours on Wednesday, trading at the highest level since early May as investors looked forward to the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s August policy meeting later in the day. Hopes for fresh measures by the European Central Bank to tackle the region’s ongoing debt crisis further supported the precious metal. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery traded at USD1,639.95 a troy ounce during U.S. morning trade, easing down 0.05%. Prices were stuck in a narrow trading range of USD1,636.35 a troy ounce, the daily low and a session high of USD1,645.35 a troy ounce, which was the strongest level since May 4. Gold futures were likely to find near-term support at USD1,610.25 a troy ounce, the low from August 20 and resistance at USD1,653.95, the high from May 3. Market participants were anticipating the minutes of the Fed’s August policy meeting, amid speculation over how close the U.S. central bank may be to implementing another round of stimulus measures. Upbeat U.S. economic data released last week indicated that the economy may be stabilizing and tempered expectations for another round of quantitative easing by the Fed. Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would pump more money into the financial system. Gold gained as much as 15% earlier this year to hit USD1,790 an ounce after the Fed said in January it would keep interest rates near zero until at least late 2014 and indicated that it could introduce a fresh round of asset-purchases. However, prices have lost almost 8.5% since late February, as the Fed failed to deliver more easing and amid concerns over the euro zone’s deepening debt crisis, which has fueled demand for the precious metal's hedge, the greenback. The precious metal continued to be supported by speculation that the ECB will soon implement policy measures to help stabilize the euro zone's sovereign debt markets. Investors were also looking ahead to a meeting between Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the euro zone’s finance ministers, and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras later in the day to discuss a two-year extension of the country’s economic reform program. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to meet with French President Francois Hollande on Thursday, while Antonis Samaras is to meet with the French and German leaders later in the week. From a technical standpoint, traders pointed out that a break above the 200-day moving average near the USD1,642.50 level could spell further gains for the precious metal. Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for September delivery dipped 0.3% to trade at USD29.34 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery eased down 0.15% to trade at USD3.448 a pound.

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