Gold down

Reuters

Bengaluru

Gold on Tuesday hovered below a 5-week peak hit the session before as the dollar weakened, although the prospect of further U.S. rate hikes curbed gains.

Spot gold had edged up 0.1 percent to $1,181.81 an ounce by 0054 GMT. It touched $1,185.80 on Monday, its highest since Dec. 5.

U.S. gold futures were down 0.3 percent at $1,181.90 per ounce. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was down 0.1 percent at 101.85.

The Federal Reserve should consider trimming its $4.5 trillion balance sheet to help raise interest rates more quickly and reduce the negative impact on the economy of a stronger dollar, Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Fed, said on Monday.

Recovery from the economic crisis is "largely done," and officials should now turn to addressing longer-term issues like how to boost productivity, Atlanta Federal Reserve bank president Dennis Lockhart said on Monday.