Gold held steady near a record high on Wednesday, with investors closely watching U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff strategies that have intensified worries of a global trade war while awaiting the Federal Reserve's January meeting minutes.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold held steady at $2,932.35 an ounce, as of 0019 GMT, moving closer to a record high of $2,942.70 it hit last week.

* U.S. gold futures gained 0.1% to $2,952.40.

* Trump said on Tuesday he intends to impose auto tariffs "in the neighborhood of 25%" and similar duties on semiconductors and pharmaceutical imports, the latest in a series of measures threatening to upend international trade.

* On Friday, Trump said levies on automobiles would come as soon as April 2, the day after members of his cabinet are due to deliver reports to him outlining options for a range of import duties as he seeks to reshape global trade.

* Bullion is viewed as a traditional hedge against rising inflation and geopolitical uncertainties.

* San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly said inflation's progress is bumpy and the U.S. central bank should keep short-term borrowing costs where they are until the progress is more visible.

* The market now awaits Fed's January meeting minutes due later in the day for clues into the central bank's interest rate trajectory this year.

* On the geopolitical front, Trump's administration said on Tuesday it agreed to hold more talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine after an initial meeting that excluded Kyiv, a departure from Washington's previous approach that rallied U.S. allies to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin.

* Spot silver rose 0.11% to $32.90 an ounce. Platinum fell 0.7% to $980.60, and palladium eased 0.4% to $983.48.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0700 UK Core CPI YY, CPI YY Jan 0700 UK CPI Services MM, CPI Services YY Jan 1330 US Housing Starts Number Jan (Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)