Spot gold was 0.1% lower at $2,176.29 per ounce and U.S. gold futures shed 0.1% to $2,175.20
Gold prices dropped on Wednesday due to an uptick in the dollar, although bullion traded in a narrow range as investors stayed on the sidelines awaiting more cues on the U.S. Fed policy.
Spot gold was 0.1% lower at $2,176.29 per ounce, as of 0310 GMT. U.S. gold futures also shed 0.1% to $2,175.20.
The dollar index firmed 0.2% against its rivals, making gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Gold prices have increased more than 5% so far this year and reached a record high last week, helped by increasing bets for Fed easing, persistent safe-haven demand and central bank purchases amid geopolitical tensions.
It is difficult to construct an overly bearish case for gold prices with the current backdrop of geopolitics and potential central easing, City Index senior analyst Matt Simpson said.
The U.S. central bank left its funds rate on hold between 5.25% and 5.5% last week and retained projections for three cuts by the year-end.
Investors now look forward to U.S. core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index data due on Friday to gauge when the Federal Reserve may begin reducing interest rates.
Traders are pricing in a 72% chance that the Fed will begin reducing rates in June, per the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s biggest gold-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF), said its holdings dropped 0.62% to 830.15 tons on Tuesday.
Aligned with the supported yet more sideways price action, open interest figures show that most of the early March inflows into gold have so far stuck, JP Morgan stated in a note.
Spot silver was stable at $24.42 per ounce, platinum dropped 0.1% to $902.15 and palladium shed 0.6% to $988.15.
