Gold falls off five-month peak as dollar gains ground

Gold futures tilted lower in Asian trade off July 11 highs for the fourth session out of five, as the dollar index eked out gains, following earlier labor data from China and ahead of US retail sales and industrial data later today. 

As of 04:21 GMT, gold futures due in February shed 0.10% to $1,246.10 an ounce off five-month highs, while the dollar index added 0.05% to 97.12. 

Earlier Chinese data showed the unemployment rate fell to 4.8% from 4.9%, while retail sales rose 8.1%, slowing down from 8.8%, as industrial output slowed down in growth to 5.4% from 5.9%. 

Now investors await retail sales data, expected with a 0.2% increase in November, slowing down from 0.7% in October, while core sales are estimated with a 0.1% addition, slowing down as well to 0.8%. 

Industrial output is expected with a 0.3% increase, accelerating from 0.1%, while the capacity utilization rate is estimated to be up to 78.6% from 78.4%. 

The manufacturing PMI is estimated to be down to 55.1 from 55.3 in November, while the services PMI are expected with no change at 54.7.