U.S. PCE data due at 1230 GMT
Platinum, palladium head for quarterly declines
Dollar eyes quarterly drop

March 31 Reuters Gold prices slipped on Friday, but the safehaven metal was bound for its second straight quarterly rise after recent banking turmoil raised hopes of a lessaggressive U.S. Federal Reserve and shored up interest in bullion.

Spot gold was down 0.2 at 1,977.36 per ounce, as of 0912 GMT. U.S. gold futures eased 0.2 to 1,993.80.

Gold is currently just consolidating and there is focus on inflation data due later in the day, said Carlo Alberto De Casa, external analyst at Kinesis Money.

U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures PCE data is due at 1230 GMT which could offer cues on the Fed39;s policy path.

Bullion has added more than 8 so far this quarter and was also headed for its best month since November, 2022.

The dollar index has tracked towards a quarterly loss, making gold an attractive investment.

Last week, gold topped 2,000 after the sudden collapse of two U.S. regional lenders earlier in the month drove bets that the U.S. central bank might pause hiking rates to stem the risk of contagion in the global banking system. But prices retreated after authorities initiated rescue measures.

I still believe gold can climb over 2,000 in the medium term as the Fed is likely to remain dovish and in the case of further turmoil, it will attract safehaven flows, De Casa added.

According to CME FedWatch tool, investors see a 43.5 chance of the Fed…