Gold prices dropped on Thursday as the dollar firmed on hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials that stoked expectations of a US interest rate hike in March. Spot gold fell 0.4 percent to $1,244.72 per ounce by 0715 GMT. On Monday, the metal rose to $1,263.80, its highest since November 11. US gold futures fell 0.3 percent to $1,245.30.
"Gold price may see a little bit of selling pressure at this moment on hawkish comments coming from the Fed officials. The interest rate hike in March is very likely and almost written on the wall," said Mark To, head of research at Hong Kong's Wing Fung Financial Group.
"We can also see that the general political climate world-wide is changing. Even people who are not interested in gold, but tend to be risk-averse, are investing in gold for caution." Spot gold may retest a resistance at $1,252 per ounce, a break above which could lead to a gain to the next resistance at $1,258, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.