Gold prices crept higher on Wednesday amid a weaker dollar, while North Korea's latest missile test had little impact on the safe-haven metal. "Gold prices haven't seen any surge and the knee-jerk reaction to the initial news was very limited," said Naeem Aslam, London-based chief market analyst at Think Markets.
"The reason behind this was mainly that we have not seen any strong reaction from the US despite North Korea's regime saying that they have completed their nuclear program." Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,295.92 an ounce at 0808 GMT. US gold futures were up 0.1 percent at $1,295.50.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.2 percent. "Gold has not rallied at all after North Korea's latest missile test ... It further reinforces that the risk-off safe-haven premiums associated with gold are gone for now," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst with OANDA.
"This leaves it entirely at the mercy of US yields and the dollar index." In other metals, palladium dipped 0.3 percent to $1,024.74 an ounce, but stayed close to Tuesday's peak of $1,028.70, its highest since February 2001. "We expect global palladium prices to remain supported in the coming years due to the metal's use in gasoline and hybrid vehicles," BMI Research said in a note.