Shafaq News/Gold prices easedon Wednesday as the dollar held firm, while investors looked for more U.S.economic data for further cues on upcoming rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Spot gold was down 0.5% at $2,649.17per ounce, as of 0648 GMT.
U.S. gold futures eased 0.7% to$2,670.30.
The dollarheld onto itssharpest gain in a week on Wednesday as investors worried about a widening warin the Middle East.
A stronger dollar makesgreenback-priced bullion more expensive for other currency holders.
Trading volumes for gold were thinas China and India were closed for holidays.
Market participants will now monitorADP employment data and remarks from Fed officials later in the day, along withISM services data and nonfarm payrolls (NFP), due later this week.
There's a reasonable chance thatboth ISM and NFP reports could surprise to the upside, which could topple goldfrom current levels on reduced bets of aggressive Fed easing, said MattSimpson, senior analyst at City Index.
Traders see a 65% chance of a25-basis-point Fed cut in November and a 35% chance of a 50-bp cut.
"Unless tensions in the MiddleEast escalate further, I suspect gold will remain beneath its record high andprovide choppy trading conditions as we await data," said Simpson.
Bullion, which is considered a safeinvestment during times of political uncertainty, rose more than 1% on Tuesdayafter Iran's attack on Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu promised that arch foe Iran would pay for its missile attack againstIsrael, while Tehran said any retaliation would be met with "vastdestruction", prompting fears of a wider war.
Meanwhile, physical demand for goldin key markets has dropped due to high prices, with some retail consumersselling their holdings to lock in profits, industry players and analysts said.
Spot silver shed 0.8% to $31.17 perounce, platinum was steady at $986.43 and palladium rose 0.5% to $999.94.
(REUTERS)