NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures traded slightly higher Wednesday as the U.S. dollar continued to slide against most of its major rivals, boosting the metal's investment appeal.
The thinly traded September contract gained 10 cents to $998 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the metal briefly tapped an 18-month high at $1,006.90 before ending at $997.90 an ounce.
The most active December contract was up slightly at $1,000.20. Trading remained in a narrow range Wednesday, with the metal swinging between gains and losses.
"Mildly corrective action continued in the precious metals complex," said Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc. "Gold traded in a fairly narrow range and saw players holding back from significant commitments."
The London gold fixing, a global benchmark, stood at $999.50 an ounce on Wednesday afternoon, down slightly from the previous session. Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust (GLD 98.17, +0.74, +0.76%) , the biggest gold exchange-traded fund, stood unchanged at 1,077.63 metric tons.
A new ETF backed by physical gold, ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (SGOL 99.90, +99.90, +Infinity) , started trading on Wednesday. The fund custodies its gold bullion in vaults in Switzerland and charges an expense rate of 0.39%, slightly lower than the SPDR Gold Trust, which custodies its gold in London.
In currencies trading Wednesday, the dollar index (DXY 76.84, -0.49, -0.63%) fell 0.6% to 76.898. The greenback continued to lose ground against the euro after having hit this year's lowest level against the single currency in the previous session.
Investors awaited the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, a compilation of anecdotes about conditions in the U.S. economy. It's used in deliberations over monetary policy and interest rates.
Among other metals, December silver futures rose slightly to $16.565 an ounce. October platinum traded nearly flat at $1,290 an ounce, while December palladium lost $2.60, or 0.9%, to stand at $296 an ounce.
December copper futures fell 0.3% to $2.948 a pound.
