Gold prices rose on Wednesday, extending gains for the second straight day, ahead of key US inflation data, and the release of the US Fed meeting minutes.

Gold prices rose 0.75% to $1,773.24 an ounce, after opening at $1,760.05, and hit a high of $1,759.47.

Gold closed higher by 0.35% yesterday, after the US Treasury bonds' rally halted..

The 10-year US Treasury yield fell 0.5% today, deepening losses for the second straight day, and pulled back further from a 4-month high of 1.636%, which lifts demand for gold.

At 12:30 GMT, the US consumer price index is expected up by 5.4% y/y in September from 5.3% in August, and the monthly reading is expected at 0.3% unchanged from the previous reading.

And by 18:00 GMT, the Federal Reserve will release the minutes of its last September's meeting, during which the central bank hinted the possibility of starting taper the bond-buying program soon.

Gold stocks at the SPDR ETF remained unchanged yesterday, with the total at the lowest level since April 6, 2020 of 985.05 metric tonnes.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday, and pulled back from multi-year highs on profit-taking, amid global demand concerns after the IMF slashed its economic growth forecast for most major economies, in addition to expected hike in the US crude inventories for the third straight week.

US crude fell 0.8% to $79.91 a barrel, after opening at $80.57, and hit a low at $80.76, and Brent crude fell 0.5% to $82.68 a barrel, after opening at $83.08, and hit a low at $83.56.

The US crude gained 0.1% yesterday, in the fourth straight daily gain, after it hit a 7-year high at $82.15. 

Brent fell 0.5%, the first daily loss, after it hit the highest since October 2018 at $84.58.

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday slashed its estimate for economic growth in the US and other major economies, and attributed that to concerns over the new wave of the coronavirus, and expectations it would halt the global economic recovery.

This raised concerns about the global demand for fuel during the last quarter of 2021, and about the widening supply deficit.

The American Petroleum Institute will release its preliminary report on the US crude inventories later today, and the US Energy Information Administration will release the official data on Wednesday.

Euro rose on Wednesday against a basket of major rivals away from 15-month lows on track for the first profit in three days, and as dollar demand declines ahead of major US inflation data.

EUR/USD rose 0.3% to 1.1560, with an intraday low at 1.1525.

Euro closed down 0.2% yesterday, the second loss in a row, marking 15-month lows at 1.1524 amid concerns about divergent US-European monetary policies. 

The dollar index fell 0.25% on Wednesday, on track for the first loss in three days away from 13-month highs at 93.56 on profit-taking,

Dollar demand has also slowed down for the time being as markets await more clues on the dateline of tightening US monetary policies.

Later today, US inflation data will be released, alongside the minutes of the last Federal Reserve's meeting, both will offer good clues on the expected path of monetary decisions in the US.

Silver prices fell on Tuesday, due to the US dollar's rise against most of its peers and the recovery of the market's risk appetite.

Investors are anticipating major companies to report their quarterly results for the third quarter starting this week.

The International Monetary Fund lowered today its estimate for global GDP growth by 0.1% to 5.9% in 2021, and kept its forecast for 2022 at 4.9%.

The IMF also lower its forecast for US GDP in 2021 by 1% to 6% from a growth by 7% in its previous estimate.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.2% to 94.5 points as of 18:30 GMT, after hitting a high of 94.5 points and a low of 94.2 points.

Gold spot prices fell 0.6% to $22.5 an ounce as of 18:30 GMT, with a day high at $22.7, and a low at $22.3