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Gold prices slipped on Wednesday and were on track to post their longest streak of monthly losses since 2018 as traders anticipated more interest rate increases by central banks to combat red-hot inflation.

Spot gold fell 0.7% to $1,711.55 an ounce by 1248 GMT. Bullion has lost about 3% in August, set for its fifth straight month of declines.

U.S. gold futures shed 0.8% to $1,722.40.

Expect gold to fall to $1,600 by year-end as Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's determination to bring down inflation through tighter monetary policy will result in higher U.S. real rates and a stronger dollar, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

Inflation has hit multi-decade highs in many parts of the world, forcing central banks to tighten monetary policy. Gold is highly sensitive to rising U.S. interest rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

"The Fed does not have intentions to significantly ease in the near term," said DailyFX currency strategist Ilya Spivak. "Their focus is on inflation."

Euro zone inflation meanwhile, jumped to another record high and will soon hit double-digit territory, heralding a string of big interest rate hikes even as a painful recession appears increasingly certain.

In broader equity markets, Wall Street was set for a muted start as U.S. crude oil prices sank for a second day on worries about demand in a struggling global economy, while untamed inflation knocked the euro and sent investors to the safe-haven dollar. [GLOB/MKTS] [USD/]

Among other precious metals, spot silver fell 2.4% to $18.05 an ounce. It has lost more than 11% this month and is set for its biggest monthly drop since September 2020.

Platinum dipped 0.7% to $841.91 and was headed for a more than 6% drop over the month.

Palladium dropped 0.8% to $2,071.53.

(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar and Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing by David Goodman)