CHICAGO, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose on Wednesday as investors waited for the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes.

The most active gold contract for December delivery rose 5.7 U.S. dollars, or 0.33 percent, to close at 1,745.6 dollars per ounce.

Shortly after the floor trading closed, the Federal Reserve released its FOMC minutes from the meeting in early November, showing the majority of FOMC members said slower rate hikes would be better to allow the Fed to assess progress toward its goals given the uncertain lags around monetary policy and as recession threat grows.

While FOMC expects rates to end up higher than previously expected, many Fed members are unsure how high interest rates need to go.

U.S. economic data released on Wednesday are mixed. U.S. Labor Department reported that U.S. initial jobless claims jumped 17,000 to 240,000 for the week ending Nov. 19. The figure also surpasses economists' expectations of 225,000.

The S&P U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) came out at 47.6 in November, down from 50.4 in October, signaling a renewed decline in operation conditions at manufacturers in November.

U.S. Commerce Department reported that U.S. durable goods orders rose one percent in October, reflecting broad-based demand.

The Consumer Sentiment Index released Friday by the University of Michigan (UM) Surveys of Consumers fell to 56.8 in the November 2022 survey, down from 59.9 in October and below last November's 67.4.

U.S. Commerce Department reported that U.S. seasonally adjusted new home sales rebounded 7.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 632,000 units in October.

Silver for December delivery rose 31.8 cents, or 1.51 percent, to close at 21.367 dollars per ounce. Platinum for January delivery rose 1.1 dollars, or 0.11 percent, to close at 996.8 dollars per ounce.