Gold prices continued lower on Wednesday, extending losses into a third session, as investors looked ahead to minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting for further hints on the timing of the next U.S. rate hike and clues on how the central bank plans to pare back its balance sheet.

The Fed will release minutes of its most recent policy meeting later in the day at 2:00PM ET (1800GMT).

The central bank left interest rates unchanged following its meeting on July 26 and said it expected to start shrinking its massive holdings of bonds "relatively soon". Policymakers also noted weakness in U.S. inflation more explicitly than before.

Market players will also eye data on U.S. housing starts and building permits at 8:30AM ET (1230GMT) to gauge the strength of the world's largest economy and how it will impact the Fed's view on monetary policy.

Comex gold futures were down around $4.00, or about 0.3%, to $1,275.81 a troy ounce by 2:55AM ET (0655GMT). It fell to a one-week low of $1,272.70 in the prior session.

The yellow metal suffered its steepest one-day drop in nearly six weeks on Tuesday, after strong data on U.S. retail sales and manufacturing activity kept alive the chance of another Fed rate hike by the end of this year.

Futures traders are pricing in about a 50% chance of a rate hike by December, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool, up from roughly 35% at the start of the week.

Easing geopolitical tensions between North Korea and the U.S. also undercut haven demand for the precious metal.