Investing.com - Gold futures were lower for the second consecutive session on Thursday, after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s July meeting indicated support for tapering. Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would end its quantitative easing program sooner-than-expected. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,363.00 a troy ounce during European morning hours, down 0.5%. Futures held in a range between USD1,354.80 a troy ounce, the daily low and a session high of USD1,367.40 a troy ounce. The December contract settled down 0.2% at USD1,370.10 a troy ounce on Wednesday. Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,318.10 a troy ounce, the low from August 15 and resistance at USD1,384.00, the high from August 19. The minutes of the Fed’s July meeting showed that officials were "broadly comfortable" with plans to scale back the bank’s USD85 billion-a-month stimulus program. However, officials remain divided over the timing of possible reduction, with almost all committee members agreeing that a change in the asset purchase program was not yet appropriate. The minutes described recent U.S. economic data as “mixed�, indicating that plans to taper could be pushed back if the economy was to weaken. The central bank is scheduled to meet September 17-18 to review the economy and assess policy. Meanwhile, a broadly stronger U.S. dollar also contributed to losses. The dollar extended gains against its major counterparts after data out of China eased concerns over a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy. Data on Thursday showed that the preliminary reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to a four-month high of 50.1 in August, up from 47.7 in June. Economists had forecast a reading of 48.3. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.25% to trade at 81.55, moving off the previous session’s low of 80.92. A stronger U.S. dollar usually weighs on gold, as it dampens the metal's appeal as an alternative asset and makes dollar-priced commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies. Gold traders are now looking ahead to the release of weekly U.S. data on initial jobless claims later in the day. Market participants have closely been looking out for U.S. data reports recently to gauge if they will strengthen or weaken the case for the Fed to reduce its bond purchases. Any improvement in the U.S. economy was likely to reinforce the view that the central bank will begin to taper its bond purchase program in the coming months. An exit from the stimulus would deal a heavy blow to gold, which has thrived on demand from investors who buy gold to hedge against the inflationary risks of loose monetary policies. The precious metal is on track to post a loss of approximately 19% on the year amid concerns the Fed will start to unwind its stimulus program by the year's end. Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for September delivery fell 0.35% to trade at USD22.88 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery rose 0.95% to trade at USD3.337 a pound. China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.

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