Gold pulls back after brief run to $2,000 on US banking woes

But overall, trend-following algorithms have effectively reached their maximum long positions, Ghali added.

Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields recovered from a near two-week low, raising the opportunity cost of holding zero-yield bullion. [US/]

Gold declined despite the dollar shedding 0.4%, while investors also took stock of upbeat risk sentiment driven by strong earnings. [USD/] [.N]

Traders were now focused on U.S. quarterly GDP data due on Thursday, followed by the core personal consumption expenditures index on Friday, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge.

Markets had priced in about a 3-in-4 chance of the U.S. central bank raising rates by 25 basis points at its May 2-3 meeting.

Those odds were lower due to "resurgent fears that there's always more than one cockroach when it comes to the U.S. regional banking crisis," Ghalli said.

Safe-haven gold scaled an over one-year peak at $2,048.71 mid-April as the U.S. banking crisis unfolded.

"Retail, discretionary traders and the like remain very underexposed, a source of dry powder, especially if the market ramps up rate cut expectations," said Paul Wong, market strategist at Sprott Asset Management.

Silver was down about 1% to $24.8 an ounce, platinum gained 0.2% to $1,088.50 and palladium rose 1.9% to $1,511.23.