Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange continued to fall on Wednesday, as rising U.S. interest-rate hike expectations in the market pressured gold prices.

Prices briefly climbed, then eased back after minutes from the Federal Reserve's May policy meeting appeared to show that the majority of the central bank's officials remain resolute about hiking rates at their meeting in June, which is widely expected.

The most active gold contract for June delivery dropped 2.4 dollars, or 0.19 percent, to settle at 1,253.10 dollars per ounce.

Weakness in the U.S. dollar prevented the precious metal from falling further as the U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.2 percent to 97.20 as of 1830 GMT.

The index is a measure of the dollar against a basket of other major currencies. Gold and the dollar typically move in opposite directions, which means if the dollar goes down, gold futures will rise.

As for other precious metals, silver for July delivery fell 2.2 cents, or 0.13 percent, to close at 17.117 dollars per ounce. Platinum for July delivery was down 2.1 dollars, or 0.22 percent, to settle at 947.3 dollars per ounce.