Gold prices tick higher ahead of US economic data

Gold prices edged up on Thursday as the U.S. dollar slipped, while investors focus shifted to U.S. economic data for clues on the Federal Reserve's rate path.

Spot gold GOLD was up 0.3% at $2,324.10 per ounce by 0752 GMT. U.S. gold futures GOLD fell 0.1% to $2,337.20.

The dollar index DXY fell 0.2% against a basket of currencies, making greenback-priced bullion more attractive for buyers holding other currencies.

"Asian buying particularly from China's side for its reserves and a slightly weak dollar are supporting prices right now," Jigar Trivedi, a senior analyst at Reliance Securities, said.

However, bullion prices have fallen over $100 since hitting a record high of $2,431.29 on April 12, and have dropped more than 3% this week so far.

"Profit taking after an extended run higher in gold and lower tangents in the Middle East resulted in a general pullback in prices," said Marex analyst Edward Meir.

The Fed's rate-setting committee is meeting on April 30-May 1. Before that, the U.S. first-quarter GDP data is due later on Thursday and the March core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE) data is due on Friday.

While geopolitics have taken a little bit of a backseat, the dollar could weaken further and gold prices could move a bit up if data shows an in-line or lower-than-expected core PCE number. However, if the inflation numbers run hot, gold could come under further pressure, Meir said.

Spot gold GOLD may retest support at $2,295 per ounce, as it failed again to break resistance at $2,336, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

Among other precious metals, spot silver XAGUSD1! rose 0.9% to $27.40 per ounce, spot platinum PL1! was up 0.7% to $909.10 and palladium XPDUSD1! edged 0.3% higher to $1,004.00.