Gold prices fell in Asian trade on Thursday amid some improvement in risk appetite after U.S. President Donald Trump downplayed fears that he will prematurely fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Broader metal prices were also subdued amid pressure from a stronger dollar, which steadied near a three-week high following sticky inflation data for June.

But haven demand for gold remained upbeat, especially amid growing uncertainty over Trump's tariffs, which are set to take effect in just over two weeks.

Platinum and silver also largely maintained their outperformance over gold.

Spot gold fell 0.2% to $3,342.09 an ounce, while gold futures for September fell 0.3% to $3,348.40/oz by 00:49 ET (04:49 GMT).

Trump says firing Powell ‘highly unlikely'

Trump on Wednesday said it was "highly unlikely" he would fire Fed Chair Powell, although it still remained a possibility if there was evidence of fraud in the Fed's ongoing renovation project.

Concerns over Powell's firing were fueled by Trump ramping up his attacks on the Fed Chair, while several members of Trump's Republican allies were also seen calling for Powell's immediate removal.

Trump claimed that Powell has been too late in cutting U.S. interest rates, demanding that he do so immediately to prevent economic damage. Powell and several Fed policymakers, on the other hand, have signaled that interest rates will remain unchanged until the inflationary impact of Trump's tariffs becomes clear.

Still, Trump's downplaying of his crusade against Powell helped marginally improve market sentiment, which in turn sapped some near-term demand for gold and boosted U.S. equities.

Dollar steady as rate cut bets wane; retail sales and jobless claims awaited

The Fed is widely expected to leave rates unchanged later this month, especially as consumer and producer inflation data released this week showed prices remaining sticky in June.

This notion supported the dollar, keeping it near three-week highs after the greenback logged steady gains over the past week.

Retail sales and jobless claims data due later on Thursday is also expected to provide more cues on the U.S. economy.

Among broader metal prices, spot platinum rose marginally to $1,424.55/oz. But the white metal closed above $1,400/oz on Wednesday, which ANZ analysts said could herald more strength.

Spot silver rose 0.2% to $37.9945/oz.

Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange were flat at $9,629.75 a ton, while U.S. COMEX copper futures rose slightly to $5.5267 a pound.

Source: Investing.com