Investing.com - Gold prices inched up during Europe's session on Thursday, but remained near a one-week low as market players looked ahead to more U.S. economic data for clues on the likelihood of a December rate hike.
Comments from a barrage of Federal Reserve officials, including the Fed chair, later in the session will also be in focus.
Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange tacked on $1.60, or 0.12%, to $1,325.30 a troy ounce by 4:20AM ET (08:20GMT). On Wednesday, prices fell to $1,321.10, a level not seen since September 21.
Data due on Thursday includes weekly jobless claims, the final look at second-quarter GDP and the trade deficit, all at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT). Pending home sales are reported at 10:00AM ET (14:00GMT).
A handful of Fed policymakers are also due to make public appearances on Thursday that may offer insight into how divided they are about raising rates.
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, Fed Governor Jerome Powell, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari and Kansas City Fed President Esther George are all scheduled to speak during the day.
There is also an appearance by Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who is due to speak via videoconference at the Minority Bankers Forum in Kansas City at 4:00PM ET (20:00GMT).
Yellen told Congress on Wednesday that the central bank does not have a "fixed timetable" for modifying its monetary policy. However, she added that continued job creation at its current pace would cause the economy to overheat and, in that case, the Fed could be forced to raise rates faster than expected.
Markets are currently pricing in around a 57% chance of a rate hike at December's meeting, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
Gold is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's value against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.1% at 95.41 early Thursday.
Against the yen, the dollar climbed 0.8% to 101.50, extending its rebound from one-month low of 100.06 touched last week.