Following a brief period of record highs, gold muted on Wednesday as demand for the yellow metal increased due to the likelihood that the Federal Reserve would not raise interest rates further.

Spot gold steadied at $1,999.39 per ounce, meanwhile gold futures muted at $2,000.65 per ounce. Tuesday’s gains in futures reached as high as $2,009.80 per ounce, although they were later pared following the release of the Fed minutes.

However, a gold price surge now seemed to have abated as the Fed maintained its higher-for-longer interest rate stance in the minutes of its meeting from late October, which were made public on Tuesday.

The Fed minutes raised some questions about when the central bank will start lowering rates, even if markets continued to believe that the Fed will not hike rates any further. Trader expectations of a rate decrease in March 2024 are being re-examined, according to the Fedwatch tool from CME Group.

Recent days have seen a string of significant gains for gold as rising wagers that the Fed was done raising interest rates were stoked by dismal unemployment and inflation statistics from the United States.