Gold slips

Bengaluru

Gold prices fell on Wednesday as positive economic data from the United States backed expectations of further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve this year, prompting the dollar to bounce back from multi-month lows.

Spot gold was down 0.2 percent at $1,248.60 per ounce, as of 0119 GMT. U.S. gold futures slipped 0.6 percent to $1,248.2. The dollar pulled away from 4-1/2-month lows against a currency basket on Wednesday as solid data backed expectations for more U.S. interest rate hikes this year.

Reinforcing rate hike expectations, U.S. consumer confidence index hit 125.6 in March, surpassing expectations for a reading of 114 and much higher than 116.1 in February.

The March level marked the highest since December 2000. U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer also gave the dollar a lift as he said in a television interview that two more increases to U.S. overnight interest rates this year seemed "about right."