Gold futures held steady on Wednesday as traders sifted through the previous day's violent downdraft, noting that while futures prices marked steep declines, investors were buying physical gold through exchange-traded funds, taking those inventories to a record.

The most actively traded contract, for February delivery, was recently down $1.80, or 0.1%, at $1,668.90 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.