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Gold edged lower on Tuesday and was heading for a second straight monthly fall, pressured by expectations that the US Federal Reserve will increase interest rates this year.
Bullion has fallen nearly 3 per cent, since hitting a three-week high above $1,200 an ounce last week, as the dollar gained after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen had on Friday signalled a rate hike is well on the central bank's cards later this year.
Citing sustained gains in the US economy, Yellen's remarks halted gold's longest rally since 2012, that had been spurred by hopes the Fed would take it slow in raising rates.
"Gold's inability to hold over the psychological $1,200 level, which it recently cleared, suggests that bullion may be susceptible to a further consolidation of gains," said HSBC analyst James Steel.
"Bullion may weaken further in the near term, we believe."
Spot gold, US gold
Spot gold was down 0.1 per cent at $1,184.31 an ounce by 0207 GMT, after falling as much as 1.4 per cent to $1,182.05 on Monday.
Bullion is down more than 2 per cent so far in March, but nearly flat for the quarter.
US gold for April delivery edged up 0.1 per cent to $1,186 an ounce.
US jobs report
Investors are eyeing US jobs data on Friday with a robust report likely to lift expectations that policymakers could lift US interest rates sooner than later.
Economists polled by Reuters forecast a 245,000-gain in US jobs in March. US jobs increased by 295,000 in February, marking the 12th straight month that employment gains have been above 200,000, the longest such run since 1994.
But outside the labour market, there were still signs that the US economy hit a soft patch in the first quarter. Consumer spending barely rose in February as households used the windfall from lower gasoline prices to boost savings to the highest level in more than two years.
In other precious metals, spot palladium climbed 1.1 per cent to $734.25 an ounce, after dropping to $721.98 on Monday, its weakest since February last year.
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