Gold price retreats below $1,670 as dollar, stocks rise

Platinum and palladium hit new 17-month highs, meanwhile, benefiting from rising appetite for industrial metals as confidence in the growth outlook improved, and on concerns over the supply outlook from major producers South Africa and Russia.

Spot gold was down 0.3 percent at $1,668.04 an ounce at 1051 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for December delivery were down $4.30 an ounce at $1,669.20.

The precious metal is down a touch since the start of the year, struggling for traction as a run of better economic data boosted the appeal of assets more highly geared to the economic cycle, such as stocks and industrial commodities.

"Certainly the stronger performance of more conventional assets, certainly equity markets, has taken the shine off gold," Deutsche Bank analyst Daniel Brebner said.

"Safe-haven assets have performed fairly poorly as expectations of growth have improved... and a lot of those debt-related risks have for the time being faded into the background. In that kind of environment, there is no signficant motivation for gold prices to rise on the basis of investment demand."

The euro fell 0.3 percent agains the dollar. ECB president Mario Draghi is likely to face tough questions on Thursday about the impact of the euro's recent appreciation on growth and inflation speculation, although the bank is unlikely

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