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Gold prices slipped on Wednesday as the dollar ticked up, while investors awaited a key U.S. inflation report due this week for more clarity on the size of a likely September rate cut.

Spot gold fell 0.4% to $2,514.11 per ounce by 0313 GMT. Bullion hit a record high of $2,531.60 on Aug. 20.

U.S. gold futures were down 0.2% to $2,549.00.

The dollar index was up 0.1%, diminishing gold's attractiveness for foreign currency holders. [USD/]

"Market seems to be waiting for a catalyst to ignite the potential bullish breakthrough above that $2,532 level," said Kelvin Wong, OANDA's senior market analyst for Asia Pacific.

The short-term trend for gold remains strong, with the potential to hit new highs. In the longer term, it may face resistance around the $2,585 to $2,595 range, Wong added.

Market participants are looking forward to the release of the U.S. personal consumption expenditure (PCE) data, the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, on Friday.

Traders have fully priced in a Fed easing for next month, with a 67% chance of a 25-basis-point cut and about 33% chance of a bigger 50-bp reduction, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Non-yielding bullion tends to thrive in a low-interest-rate environment.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell last week endorsed an imminent start to rate cuts and expressed confidence that inflation is within reach of the U.S. central bank's 2% target.

A report on Tuesday showed that U.S. consumer confidence rose to a six-month high in August but Americans are becoming more anxious about the labour market.

China's net gold imports via Hong Kong in July rose by about 17% from the previous month, the first gain since March, data showed on Tuesday.

Among other metals, spot silver slipped 0.7% to $29.78 per ounce, platinum rose 0.3% to $956.00 and palladium fell 0.4% to $966.40.