March 1 (Reuters) - Gold prices edged lower on Wednesday as the dollar ticked up, while investors braced for more U.S. interest rate hikes amid stubbornly high inflation.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was down 0.2% at $1,824.06 per ounce, as of 0047 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,831.30.
* The dollar index rose 0.1%, making bullion more expensive for buyers holding other currencies.
* U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly fell in February, with the decrease concentrated among lower-middle-income households, though Americans grew more upbeat about the labour market, a survey showed on Tuesday.
* Money markets expect the U.S. Federal Reserve's target rate to peak at 5.425% in September, following a string of strong economic data.
* The Fed must supplement traditional government data and readings from financial markets with real-time, on-the-ground observations of economic conditions if it is to make good policy, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said on Tuesday.
* Surprisingly strong inflation data lifted euro zone bond yields to their highest in more than a decade on Tuesday, and pushed expectations for the peak in the European Central Bank's main interest rate to almost 4%.
* High interest rates dampen gold's appeal as an inflation hedge while raising the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset.
* Spot silver fell 0.3% to $20.85 per ounce, platinum lost 0.5% to $947.22 and palladium eased 0.1% to $1,415.17.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0130 China NBS Manufacturing PMI
0145 China Caixin Mfg PMI Final
0850 France S&P Global Mfg PMI
0855 Germany S&P Global/BME Mfg PMI
0855 Germany Unemployment Chg, Rate SA
0900 EU S&P Global Mfg Final PMI
0930 UK S&P GLBL/CIPS Mfg PMI Final
1200 Germany CPI Prelim YY
1200 Germany HICP Prelim YY
1445 US S&P Global Mfg PMI Final
1500 US ISM Manufacturing PMI
(Reporting by Kavya Guduru in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
