Gold eases as dollar ticks higher, Fed speaker on tap

Gold prices slipped on May 7

Gold prices slipped on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar firmed, while investors awaited more comments from Federal Reserve officials for further clarity on the timeline for potential interest rate cuts.

Spot gold was down 0.5% to $2,312.29 per ounce by 1218 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.5% to $2,320.60 per ounce.

The dollar index gained 0.2% against its rivals, making gold less attractive for other currency holders.

"It (gold) is definitely overbought and some of that profits are now been taken out of the market, so it's very much in consolidation mode," StoneX analyst Rhona O'Connell said.

"I still think that the tailwinds particularly with respect to geopolitical risk and potential stresses in the banking system, are strong enough to give gold support rather than to reverse the moves that we saw across margin into April."

Gold hit a record high of $2,431.29 on April 12 due to strong purchases by central banks and demand from Chinese retail investors amid growing geopolitical tensions.

China's central bank added 60,000 troy ounces of gold to its reserves in April, its data showed, extending the period of consecutive purchases to 18 months despite high prices.

Investors now look forward to comments from Fed officials set to speak this week, including Fed Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari later in the day.

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said on Monday the current interest rate level should cool the economy enough to return inflation to the central bank's 2% target.

Fed funds futures traders are pricing in about 66% probability that the U.S. central bank will begin cutting rates in September, according to the CME's FedWatch Tool.

Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Elsewhere, spot silver fell 0.8% to $27.23 per ounce. Platinum gained 0.7% to $961.20, and palladium was up 0.2% to $979.0.