Spot gold fell $2.66 an ounce to $1,527.19 an ounce by 0030 GMT after rising for a second straight session to around $1,533 on Wednesday on declines in equity markets. Gold is well below a lifetime high around $1,575 touched in early May.

Silver lost 24 cents to $35.53 an ounce, below a record at $49.51 an ounce in April.

The dollar held at three-week highs against a basket of major currencies in Asia on Thursday, having staged its biggest rally in 10 months on a wave of short covering as concerns over Greece's debt crisis hammered the euro.

Copyright Reuters, 2011