PRECIOUS-Gold steadies in thin trade, investors await US inflation data

By Pablo Sinha

Feb 19 (Reuters) - Gold prices were flat in thin trading on Thursday after rising more than 2% a day earlier, as investors waited for key U.S. inflation data that could influence the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path.

Spot gold XAU= was steady at $4,980.60 per ounce by 0454 GMT. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for April delivery were down 0.2% at $4,999.70.

"Gold is in a consolidation mood, reflective of thin liquidity conditions during the Asia holiday period rather than a shift in fundamentals," said Christopher Wong, a strategist at OCBC.

Mainland Chinese, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.

The U.S. dollar held steady at a more than one-week high, making greenback-priced bullion more expensive for other currency holders. USD/

Meanwhile, January's Fed minutes showed that policymakers were in near-unanimous agreement to keep interest rates on hold at their meeting, but remained split over their next steps, with "several" open to rate hikes if inflation remains elevated, others inclined to support further cuts if inflation recedes.

Investors are now focused on the weekly jobless claims due later today and Friday’s Personal Consumption Expenditures report, the Fed’s preferred inflation metric. Non-yielding bullion tends to do well in low-interest-rate environments.

"We still see a period of consolidation in the near term before prices of gold and silver trend higher gradually. For silver, consolidation is likely to hold in the $70 to $90 range while gold may trade in the $4,800 to $5,100 range in the interim," Wong said.

Spot silver XAG= rose 0.7% to $77.71 per ounce after rising more than 5% on Wednesday.

Spot platinum XPT= edged 0.2% lower to $2,066.90 per ounce, while palladium XPD= shed 0.4% to $1,709.53.