Gold falls off one-month high even as dollar dips

Gold futures tilted lower in American trade away from January 25 highs for the fourth straight session even as the dollar index fell as well from February 13 highs, following earlier data from the US, the world's largest economy. 

As of 02:54 GMT, gold futures due on April 15 fell 0.23% to $1,329.10 an ounce from the opening of $1,332.10, while the dollar index slipped 0.25% to 89.78 from the opening of 90.00. 

Earlier US data showed unemployment claims fell 7 thousand to 222 thousand from 229 thousand in the previous reading, below expectations of 230K, while continuing claims in the week ending February 10 fell 73 thousand to 1.875 million from 1.948 million, also sharply below forecasts of 1.938 million. 

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley will speak about the economic situation in Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, following Hurricanes Irma and Maria, at a press briefing hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, while Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic will speak at the Banking Outlook Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

The Federal Reserve released the minutes of the January 30-31 meeting, at which policymakers held interest rates unchanged between 1.25% and 1.50%, while expecting inflation to settle at 2% in the next 12 months. 

At the last meeting under Janet Yellen, policymakers asserted the path of policy tightening and three rate hikes this year, while expanding the plans of normalizing the balance sheet. 

Markets in particular look forward to the Fed's March 20-21 meeting, the first under new Chair Jerome Powell, at which policymakers will release their three-year forecasts for inflation, unemployment, growth, and interest rates. 

Gold holdings at the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed investment fund, settled unchanged on Wednesday at 827.79 tonnes, the highest since February 6, after rising 3%, or 23.63 tonnes in 2017.