Gold prices posted their fifth straight record peak on Thursday as Federal Reserve officials reiterated expectations of interest rate cuts in 2024, even if their timing was unclear, while traders await key U.S. jobs data.

Spot gold edged down 0.2% at $2,293.54 per ounce, as of 0815 GMT after hitting an all-time high of $2,304.09 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1 at $2,312.40.

"What is driving the gold price is currencies globally depreciating against the U.S. dollar for a whole range of reasons ... people acquiring gold as basically a protection against local currency depreciation," Michael Langford, chief investment officer at Scorpion Minerals, said.

"If interest rates are not dropped and the Fed maintains the current interest rate (to the end of the year), at least a 10% correction in the gold price is logical."

Fed officials including U.S. central bank chief Jerome Powell on Wednesday continued focusing on the need for more debate and data before interest rates are cut, a move financial markets expect to occur in June.

The U.S. jobs report for March is due to be released on Friday, with new inflation data coming next week.

"If non-farm payrolls meets expectations or is worse than expectations in terms of the job market being weaker, then this would be positive for the potential for an interest rate cut which would then be positive for gold," Langford added.

Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding bullion.

"We maintain a bullish outlook on gold prices, on the back of expectations of global easing outlook, central banks’ continued purchases of gold, as well as a play up of gold’s geopolitical hedge characteristic," Singaporean bank OCBC said in a note.

Elsewhere, spot silver fell 0.5% to $27.10 per ounce after scaling its highest since June 2021. Platinum rose 0.5% to $941.65 and palladium was up 0.2% at $1.015.75.

(Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Swati Verma; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Sonali Paul)