Gold prices fell on Thursday, giving up all-time highs hit earlier this week, as the dollar strengthened ahead of U.S. jobs data and a speech by the Federal Reserve chairman that could provide further clues on interest rate expectations.
Spot gold fell 0.5% to $2,500.65 per ounce by 0243 GMT, trading below Tuesday's all-time high of $2,531.60.
US gold futures also fell 0.4% to $2,537.10.
The market has seen fluctuations of small gains and losses recently, indicating a phase of consolidation, said Ilya Spivak, global macroeconomist at TestLife.
He added from the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's July meeting, You feel the Fed is ready to cut interest rates... The Fed needs to start cutting rates now or it will be over-tightening its monetary policy and end up hurting the economy unnecessarily.
After touching its lowest level since late December on Wednesday, the dollar index rose 0.2% after the release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve's July 30-31 meeting, which showed officials were strongly inclined to cut interest rates next month.
A low interest rate environment typically increases the appeal of non-yielding bullion.
Fed Chairman Speech
Investors are now awaiting the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, which begins today, Thursday, and is scheduled to be addressed by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell tomorrow, Friday.
The market is also awaiting the new jobless claims data, due at 1230 GMT.
As for other precious metals, silver fell in spot transactions by 0.9% to $29.37 per ounce, platinum fell by 0.41% to $959.76, and palladium fell by 0.3% to $948.55.
