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Gold dipped on Friday as the U.S. dollar ticked higher, and investors looked for further guidance from the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy meet on tapering of economic support as inflation expectations rise.

Spot gold fell 0.4% to $1,791.81 per ounce by 0901 GMT. U.S. gold futures dropped 0.5% to $1,793.60.

"On one hand gold should profit from high inflation expectations, but it's being kept in check due to the prospect of interest rate hikes from either in the near or in the more distant future," Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde acknowledged on Thursday that inflation will be high for even longer but pushed back against market bets that price pressures would trigger an interest rate hike as soon as next year.

"There's a mismatch between market expectations and European Central Bank expectations for rate hikes," and that's also pressuring gold, Briesemann added.

The Fed is expected to announce when it will start tapering, following a meeting on Nov. 2-3.

Reduced stimulus and interest rate hikes tend to push government bond yields and the dollar up, denting gold's appeal.

Meanwhile, data showed the U.S. economy grew at a slower pace last quarter, while another report from the Labor Department indicated initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped to their lowest level since mid-March 2020.

The dollar index was up 0.2%, but was headed for a third straight weekly decline. [USD/]

"With inflation showing no signs of abating, investors see precious metals at current prices as attractive assets," said Vincent Tie, sales manager at Singapore dealer Silver Bullion.

"Silver, in particular, is seen as one of the cheapest metals in the market given that it is still far from hitting a new high in price."

Spot silver fell 0.9% to $23.89 per ounce, platinum edged 0.4% lower to $1,014.70, while palladium rose 0.4% to $1,997.11.

(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar and Nakul Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)