Investing.com - Gold prices edged lower for the first time in six sessions in early dealings on Thursday, moving away from its strongest level in around four months as investors kept an eye on upcoming U.S. data to gauge if the world's largest economy is strong enough to withstand multiple rate hikes in 2018.
Comex gold futures were at $1,328.80 a troy ounce by 3:10AM ET (0810GMT), down around $11.00, or 0.8%, from the last session's closing price. It hit the best level since Sept. 8 at $1,345.00 on Monday.
Gold futures notched a fifth session of gains on Wednesday, getting a boost as the U.S. dollar failed to see much of a bounce back from recent lows.
Meanwhile, silver futures inched down 10.1 cents, or 0.6%, to $17.06 a troy ounce. It reached a three-month high of $17.42 on Monday.
U.S. economic data is likely to be in the spotlight on Thursday, as markets continue speculating how many times the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year.
The Commerce Department is to publish a report on building permits and housing starts for December at 8:30AM ET (1330GMT).
The data is expected to show that permits fell 1.0% to 1.290 million last month, while housing starts are forecast to show a decline of 1.7% to 1.275 million. Both reached a more than decade high in November.
Besides the housing-related data, Thursday's calendar also features a survey on manufacturing conditions in the Philadelphia region as well as weekly jobless claims figures.
The dollar index, which gauges the U.S. currency against a basket of six major rivals, stood at 90.50, above Tuesday's three-year low of 89.98.
The majority of economists believe that the Fed will hike rates in March, followed by another hike in June, with a third move higher arriving in December, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
Gold is highly sensitive to rising rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding nonyielding bullion.
Markets also awaited developments related to a potential government shutdown should Congress fail to pass a funding bill by Friday.
In other metals action, palladium prices shed 0.4% to $1,105.20 an ounce. It marked a record-high of $1,133 on Monday thanks to soaring demand for the auto industry.
Sister metal platinum meanwhile dipped 0.6% to $1,005.20 an ounce, after touching its strongest since Sept. 8 at $1,012.90 a day earlier.
March copper tacked on 0.3% to $3.200 a pound.
China's economy grew faster than expected in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, helped by a rebound in the industrial sector, a resilient property market and strong export growth.
Growth in the October-to-December period from a year earlier was 6.8%, the National Bureau of Statistics said, unchanged from the third quarter and above analyst expectations for 6.7% growth. Growth for the 2017 full year picked up to 6.9% year-on-year, the first annual acceleration for the economy since 2010.
The Asian nation is the world's largest consumer of the red metal.