OREANDA-NEWS. February 20, 2015. Gold rose on Thursday after minutes from January's Federal Reserve policy meeting showed concern about raising interest rates too soon, while investors assessed the latest standoff over Greece's bailout.

Spot gold was up 0.6 percent at \\$1,219.46 an ounce by 1302 GMT, extending a late rebound in the previous session.

U.S. gold futures for April delivery gained \\$19.50 an ounce to \\$1,219.60.

Spot prices had fallen to a six-week low of \\$1,197.56 on Wednesday, when hopes for a successful resolution to Greece's debt talks boosted investor appetite for risk.

On Thursday, the German finance ministry rejected a new proposal from Athens for an extension of its bailout programme, saying it fell short of the conditions set out by Greece's euro zone partners.

Even so, Greece's wording of a document seen by Reuters appeared to go substantially toward the position taken by euro zone finance ministers in early negotiations. That reassured bond investors a deal may not be far away.

Failure to reach an agreement could trigger flight-to-safety bids for gold, although markets still believe a deal to keep Greece in the euro zone can be negotiated.

Gold rose after minutes from the Fed's Jan. 27-28 meeting, released on Wednesday, showed officials grappling to square solid U.S. economic growth with weakness in international markets, as well as worrying about falling inflation expectations.

The Fed has kept rates near zero since 2008 to stimulate the U.S. economy, benefiting non-interest-bearing assets such as gold. Any rate increase would lift the dollar, hurting demand for bullion.

"Bears were firmly in control until the dovish comments from the (Fed) minutes came out ... the market was surprised with most expecting the first of many rate (increases) in June -- this now looks to be off the table," Tony Walters, senior metals analyst at Deutsche Borse's MNI International, said.

"There's a good chance of some more short-covering as investors trim back their exposure in light of the new rate expectations."

Liquidity will remain thin in Asia through the week as several markets are closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Gold imports into top consumer India are set to jump in coming months after the central bank eased gold import curbs.

Silver was down 0.1 percent at \\$16.74 an ounce, while platinum fell 0.9 percent to \\$1,176.15 an ounce, after reaching a 5-1/2-year low at \\$1,158.45 on Wednesday. Palladium rose 1.5 percent to \\$776.98 an ounce.