2017.05.2423:27:00UTC+00Gold Stable as Dollar Falls on Fed Minutes

Gold held on to most of its gains from the session earlier, as the dollar fell after minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting which reduced expectations for an aggressive string of interest rate hikes.

Spot gold dropped 0.1 percent at $1,256.61 an ounce. It climbed around 0.6 percent the previous day. U.S. gold futures settled 0.3 percent higher at $1,256.8 per ounce.

Fed policymakers agreed that they should hold off on increasing interest rates until it appeared clear that the recent slowdown in the U.S. economy was only temporary, although some mentioned that a hike was coming soon, according to minutes from the latest policy meeting.

London's gold benchmark saw huge, unpredictable fluctuations as some banks left the auction that sets the price relied upon by the bullion market, according to a Reuters analysis of trading data.

Russia increased its gold holdings by 7.2 tonnes to 1,687.3 tonnes in April, while Kazakhstan also raised its holdings by 3.2 tonnes to 270.918 tonnes in the same period, according to data from the IMF.