Gold edges up after gaining on softer dollar

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold edged up early Thursday, extending gains from the previous session, as the dollar remained subdued after minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting hinted at a delay in further rate hikes.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold > was up 0.4 percent at $1,287.21 per ounce by 0110 GMT, after gaining nearly 1 percent the previous day.

* U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.8 percent to $1,293.30 per ounce.

* The U.S. dollar was on the defensive on Thursday after the minutes from the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting showed policymakers were increasingly wary of recent softness in inflation and could delay a rate hike. [USD/]

 

* Federal Reserve policymakers appeared increasingly wary about recent weak inflation and some called for halting interest rate hikes until it was clear the trend was transitory, according to the minutes of the U.S. central bank's last policy meeting.

* The U.S. central bank is roughly at the mid-point on its current path to normalise interest rates as the economy has shown further improvement even without fiscal stimulus, San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams told CNN television.

* U.S. Treasury yields fell on Wednesday, with benchmark yields retreating from one-week highs as U.S. President Donald Trump's dissolving of two business advisory groups and the Federal Reserve's record of its July policy meeting raised economic worries.

* European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will not deliver a new policy message at the U.S. Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole conference, two sources familiar with the situation said, tempering expectations for the bank to start charting the course out of stimulus.

* The economy in the 19 countries sharing the euro currency expanded by more than previously forecast in the second quarter compared to the same quarter in 2016, the European Union's statistics office Eurostat said on Wednesday.

* British-based banks seeking to relocate to the European Union before Britain leaves the bloc are behind schedule in their preparations for the move, a European Central Bank supervisor said on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Pullin)