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The prices of precious metals gold and silver pulled back as the latest meeting minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve show growing disagreement over the future direction of interest rates.

The latest minutes show that the Federal Reserve remained divided at its January policy meeting but ultimately voted to pause interest rate cuts for the time being.

Central bank officials seem conflicted over their dual mandate of fighting inflation and supporting the U.S. labour market.

Perhaps more worrisome, some central bank officials raised the prospect of raising interest rates to help lower inflation, which remains above the Fed's 2% target.

The divisions at the Fed have proven to be a drag on gold and silver. As non-yielding assets, the precious metals tend to perform better when interest rates are lower.

The Fed reduced its trendsetting Fed Funds Rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, or 75-basis points in consecutive cuts last September, October, and December.

Those cuts lowered the key rate to its current range of 3.50% to 3.75%.

The path forward for interest rates has now grown cloudier, say analysts. The only thing that's clear is that further rate cuts are unlikely in the near-term.

Futures markets continue to price in two 25-basis point interest rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve this year, one in June and another in September.

But the current outlook isn't helping the price of gold and silver after each precious metal saw their price more than double in the past two years.

The price of gold and silver are also pulling back currently amid signs that the U.S. dollar is strengthening after a prolonged slump.

Gold (TVC: $GOLD ) is currently trading at $4,998.77 U.S. an ounce. Silver (TVC: $SILVER ) is trading at $77.81 U.S. per ounce.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to next decide on interest rates March 18.