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Gold consolidated in a narrow range on Tuesday, buoyed by a softer dollar but held back as investors refrained from big bets until the release this week of U.S. inflation data expected to influence the pace of interest rate hikes.

Spot gold edged 0.2% higher to $1,791.16 per ounce by 1106 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,807.10.

"Gold is going through an interesting period where the market is trying to assess which is the dominant factor between the metal and dollar," Rupert Rowling, market analyst at Kinesis Money said.

"And another high (inflation) print would be negative for gold" Rowling said, noting that there aren't any clear support levels until $1,700.

Ahead of the U.S. consumer price report for July due at 1230 GMT on Wednesday, analysts polled by Reuters expect annual inflation to have eased to 8.7% from 9.1% in June. A strong labour market report on Friday had already ramped up bets for more steep rate hikes.

Ongoing global policy tightening has cast a doubt on gold's outlook as higher rates increase the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding bullion.

However, geopolitical tensions and recession fears have offered support to safe-haven gold, mitigating the impact of the Fed's aggressive tightening, said Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades.

The dollar eased 0.3%, lurking below recent highs, making gold a more attractive bet for overseas buyers. [US/][USD/]

"Investors understand that both the U.S. and global economies are facing significant challenges, but the emphasis will be on the question for how long higher rates will be a weight on the market," Clifford Bennett, chief economist at ACY Securities, said.

U.S. consumers' expectations on where inflation will be in a year and three years' time dropped sharply in July, a New York Federal Reserve survey showed on Monday.

Spot silver fell 0.3% to $20.58 per ounce, platinum slipped 0.4% to $936.38.

Palladium dropped about 2% to $2,186.40.