By Manolo Serapio Jr
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold retreated for the third session in a row on Thursday after comments from Federal Reserve officials suggested that a rate increase in June remained on the cards despite recent weak data.
Bullion pulled further away from a seven-week high reached on Monday that was spurred by hopes the Fed would delay a rate rise after last week's disappointing U.S. jobs data.
A U.S. interest rate increase, which would be the first in nearly a decade, dims the appeal of non-interest-yielding assets such as gold.
"The near-term outlook for gold looks weak, with the path of least resistance lower," said HSBC analyst James Steel.
Spot gold was down 0.5 percent at $1,196.30 an ounce at 0657 GMT after hitting a session low of $1,192.30. Bullion touched $1,224.10 on Monday, its highest since Feb. 17.
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New York Fed President William Dudley and Fed Governor Jerome Powell on Wednesday sketched out scenarios in which the central bank could make an initial move earlier than many now expect and then proceed in a slow and gradual manner on further rate increases.
But while minutes of the Fed's March 17-18 meeting showed it concluded with the Fed opening the door to a June rate rise, there was a divergence of views among policymakers, suggesting no consensus on the timing of a move.
Still, the dollar traded at one-week highs against a basket of major currencies as investors renewed bets on a June increase. [USD/]
U.S. gold for June delivery dropped 0.6 percent to $1,195.90 an ounce.
But Phillip Futures analyst Howie Lee said gold's decline could be temporary, arguing there was "little chance" the Fed would raise rates at this time, "given how fragile the economy is".
"What this means is that the current decline in gold prices could just be a technical correction; while it may fall to $1,190 today, I would highly expect it to return above $1,200 in the coming weeks," he said.
Gold demand from No. 2 consumer China remained weak with premium on physical gold at the Shanghai Gold Exchange at about a dollar over the global spot benchmark after flipping to a small discount earlier.
While demand from top gold consumer India appeared stronger, HSBC's Steel said that, overall, "physical buying may not be sufficiently powerful to push prices higher near-term."
(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Ed Davies, Alan Raybould; Michael Perry)