Gold prices slipped on Wednesday after rising for three straight sessions as the dollar held its gains on the back of upbeat US economic data and equities edged up, whetting investor risk appetite.

“The announcement by China of new import tariffs on US sorghum raised concerns that a trade war was still a risk,” analysts at ANZ said in a note, adding, “this was mitigated by a stronger equity market in the United States, after the first batch of companies reported a solid of earnings for Q1.”

Spot gold fell 0.2 per cent to $1,344.06 per ounce at 0414 GMT, while US gold futures for June delivery dipped 0.18 per cent to $1,347.10 per ounce. Gold prices surged to $1,365.23 per ounce last week, their highest since January 25, on heightened tensions over Syria and US sanctions on Russia.

“Historically, geopolitical tensions have a short-term impact on price movement, but overall it is the economy that determines prices,” said Mark To, head of research at Hong Kong's Wing Fung Financial Group.

The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was little changed at 89.494, after gaining 0.1 per cent overnight.

Asian shares

Asian shares inched up after Wall Street took heart from the upbeat corporate earnings. The dollar index touched a three-week low of 89.229 on Tuesday before pulling back on stronger-than-expected March US housing starts and steady industrial production figures.

Spot gold may retrace to a support level at $1,334 per ounce, because it failed to break resistance at $1,350, said Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

In other precious metals, spot silver was little changed at $16.75 per ounce, while platinum fell 0.1 per cent to $934.99 per ounce, after earlier climbing to a one-week high of $938.60. Palladium was 0.3 per cent higher at $1,012.50 per ounce.

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