Gold edged up on Monday but was hovering near a two-week low hit in the previous session as investors pared expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut after the Federal Reserve's latest meeting indicated that a delay in monetary policy easing is likely.

 

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,338.85 per ounce, as of 0211 GMT. Prices hit its lowest since May 9 at $2,325.19 on Friday.

* U.S. gold futures were up 0.3% at $2,340.20.

* Bullion hit a record high of $2,449.89 earlier last week, but has shed more than $100 since then.

* Fed officials indicated that it would take longer than previously anticipated to gain greater confidence in inflation moving to 2%, according to the minutes of the U.S. central bank's April 30-May 1 meeting.

* Traders' bets signalled growing doubts that the Fed will cut rates more than once in 2024, currently pricing in about a 62% chance of a rate cut by November, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

* Bullion is known as an inflation hedge, but higher rates increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.

* At least five people were killed and several others were missing after an informal gold mine collapsed in northern Kenya, officials and local media said.

* BHP's resolve to add more copper to its portfolio will be tested by Anglo American investors' demands for a simpler offer for the whole company or a cash sweetener to clinch a deal that could become the biggest in mining history.

* Profits at China's industrial firms rose 4.3% in the first four months from the same period last year, official data showed.

* Spot silver rose 0.8% to $30.59 per ounce, platinum was up 1.2% at $1,037.90 and palladium gained 1.6% at $979.25.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0800 Germany Ifo Business Climate New May 0800 Germany Ifo Curr Conditions New May 0800 Germany Ifo Expectations New May

(Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng)