Gold prices edged lower on Thursday, easing from the previous session's 15-week high as the dollar recovered from multi-week lows, although trade concerns and a possible US rate cut offered support for safe-haven bullion.

FUNDAMENTALS

Spot gold was down 0.1 per cent to $1,328.25 per ounce as of 0124 GMT, after hitting its highest since Feb. 20 at $1,343.86 on Wednesday.

US gold futures were 0.2 per cent lower at $1,331.40 an ounce.

The dollar recovered from an eight-week low touched in the previous session against a basket of major currencies on optimism over US-Mexico trade talks, and a survey showing that US services sector activity expanded at a brisk pace in May.

Mexican and US officials are set to resume talks in Washington on Thursday aimed at averting an imposition of tariffs on Mexican goods, with President Donald Trump saying "not enough" progress on ways to curb migration was made on Wednesday.

The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday reported that its contacts at companies across the country were worried that international trade tensions could weigh on business even as economic activity picked up.

The ADP National Employment Report on Wednesday further bolstered bets for a rate cut. US private employers hired at the slowest pace in more than nine years in May, weakness that analysts blamed on the heightening global trade tensions.

Asian shares got off to a hesitant start on Thursday as investors feared a looming US trade war with Mexico would further depress global growth, even as they wagered central banks would have to respond with fresh stimulus

New Zealand's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time in two-and-a-half years on Wednesday, and signalled a 50-50 chance of another easing, sending the local dollar sharply lower.

The US Labor Department delivers its non-farm payrolls report on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters expect the report to show job growth slowed in May.

Holdings SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.27 per cent to 757.59 tonnes on Wednesday from 759.65 tonnes on Tuesday.