Gold comes off three-week highs as dollar ticks up

By A. Ananthalakshmi

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold dipped below a three-week high on Wednesday as the dollar regained some ground from the yen and equities climbed higher, but uncertainties about the global economy and U.S. monetary policy limited losses.

The safe-haven Japanese yen slid from a near-18-month peak against the greenback on Wednesday as solid gains in oil prices helped underpin risk appetite, while Asian share markets rose after upbeat Chinese trade data offered hope the economy was stabilising.

Spot gold eased 0.3 percent to $1,252.21 an ounce by 0428 GMT, following a 0.2 percent dip overnight. The metal jumped to a three-week high of $1,262.60 on Tuesday.

"Gold is tracking the dollar-yen move, but there is still some upside," said a Sydney-based bullion trader. "There are enough concerns about the economy and the timing of U.S. rate hikes to support gold at these levels."

Gold had its best quarter in 30 years in the three months to March, with the dollar on the back foot as investors scaled back expectations of rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. The dollar has shed over 4 percent versus a basket of currencies this year.

Fed policymakers signalled in December that four hikes would probably be needed this year, though they cut their view in March to two rate increases for 2016.

Markets are factoring in only one rate hike. But comments from two Fed officials on Tuesday added to the uncertainty.

The Fed could reasonably raise interest rates two or three times this year, San Francisco Fed President John Williams said, adding that he does not expect much market turmoil when it does.

The Fed will likely have to raise interest rate around four times this year, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker said on Tuesday.

Among other precious metals, silver also eased after hitting a 5-1/2-month high of $16.21 on Tuesday. Platinum dipped below $1,000 an ounce after climbing to a one-month high overnight.

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Himani Sarkar)