Gold futures tilted lower in Asian trade even as the dollar index stepped off January 4 highs for another session, following earlier data from China, the world's largest metals consumer, while the US market closes down for the Martin Luther King holiday.
As of 04:37 GMT, gold futures due in February slipped 0.11% to $1,281.20 an ounce, while the dollar inched down 0.03% to 96.31.
From China, the economy grew just 6.4% y/y, the lowest such rate since 2009, and down from 6.5% in the previous quarter.
Retail sales rose 8.2% in December, up from 8.1% in November, while industrial output rose 5.7%, accelerating from 5.4%, as the unemployment rate rose to 4.9% from 4.8%.
Last week, China announced plans to increase spending by cutting taxes while doubling efforts to support growth and provide liquidity to the market.
Recent reports indicated US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is discussing potential plans to lift some or all of the newly-imposed tariffs on Chinese imports.
Muchin is allegedly suggesting a back-down from imposing new tariffs scheduled for January 30 according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, which was then disputed by the Treasury Department's spokesman.
Other reports indicated China is making suggestions to shave to the US-China trade imbalance, including a buying spree for the next six years of US products to over a trillion dollars, after China's trade surplus with America reached $323 billion last year.