Gold bound for first weekly slide in seven after recent drop

Gold prices ticked up on Friday as markets digested recent comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, but the precious metal was headed for its biggest weekly fall since November after a 2% drop in the previous session.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,916.34 per ounce by 0042 GMT, after shedding 2% in the previous session in a sell-off sparked by firm dollar and profit-taking.

* U.S. gold futures eased 0.1% to $1,915.60.

* Bullion, however, was headed for a 0.6% weekly fall.

* The Fed on Wednesday scaled back to a quarter-percentage-point rate increase after a year of larger hikes. Powell warned of further monetary policy tightening but also noted the progress on disinflation, which he said is in its early stages.

* Gold tends to benefit in lower interest rate environment, as it reduces the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. * Data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a nine-month low last week as the labour market remained resilient despite higher borrowing costs.

* Global central banks that raced to raise interest rates last year amid soaring inflation are now laying the groundwork in unison for a pause that, while not yet promised, is coming into view for later this year.

* The Reserve Bank of Australia will deliver a fourth successive quarter-point interest rate hike next week and is likely to follow up with a fifth in March, a Reuters poll found.

* Spot silver rose 0.3% to $23.5302 per ounce, while platinum was little changed at $1,021.70.

* Palladium rose 0.08% to $1,655.50 per ounce