Gold prices eased in early Asian hours on Monday as the dollar ticked up, while traders awaited comments from a series of Federal Reserve officials for more cues on U.S. interest rate cut timeline.

 

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was down 0.3% at $2,294.97 per ounce, as of 0040 GMT. U.S. gold futures slipped 0.3% to $2,301.00 per ounce.

* The dollar index firmed 0.1%, making bullion less attractive to buyers holding other currencies.

* Data on Friday showed that U.S. job growth slowed more than expected in April, reinforcing expectations that the Fed will start cutting interest rates later this year.

* Markets are pricing a 67% chance of a U.S. rate cut in September, as per CME's FedWatch Tool. High interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding bullion.

* The U.S. central bank should beef up its quarterly "dot plot" of policymakers' interest-rate-path views by including the individual economic expectations that inform each one, Austan Goolsbee, president of the Chicago Fed, said on Friday. Meanwhile, New York Fed Bank President John Williams said the 2% target for inflation is "critical" to Fed's efforts to achieve price stability.

* Physical gold demand in India remained subdued last week despite a slight correction in prices as buyers awaited an even bigger drop, while Chinese premiums slipped for the second straight week due to sluggish holiday demand.

* Spot silver fell 0.2% to $26.49 per ounce, platinum lost nearly 0.7% to $948.40 and palladium inched down 0.5% to $940.60.

(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)