Citi cut its near-term target to US$4,000 from US$4,300 on higher rate bets
Gold held near US$4,334 an ounce on Tuesday as investors weighed a fragile Israel-Iran ceasefire and braced for US inflation data.
Reuters said the pressure traces back to a sharp shift in rate expectations over the past month.
Traders now price in a more than 70 percent chance of a year-end US rate hike, up from about 14 percent a month ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Higher rates tend to weigh on non-yielding gold, and a stronger dollar makes the dollar-priced metal costlier for other buyers.
Goldman Sachs cited by the same outlet said it now expects the US Federal Reserve to hold rates through 2026 and delay cuts until 2027, citing stronger US economic activity and jobs growth.
A stronger-than-expected jobs report last week had already pushed the dollar to a near two-month high.
Investors now await May's US Consumer Price Index data on Wednesday for further clues on the rate path.
Forecasts diverge sharply on where the metal lands.
The outlet said Citi cut its near-term target from US$4,300 to US$4,000 an ounce, citing expectations of higher US rates and elevated energy prices tied to the Strait of Hormuz impasse.
KCM Trade's Tim Waterer was more bullish, calling a year-end return to US$5,500 for gold "viable," driven in part by central bank demand.
The catch, he told the wire service: oil prices, bond yields and the dollar "would all need to take a turn lower."
The ceasefire itself remains shaky.
Iran and Israel halted attacks on Monday after an appeal from US President Donald Trump, though Tehran warned it would resume hostilities if Israel kept hitting Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to Reuters.
A durable peace would ease energy-driven inflation risks and reduce pressure on central banks to hold rates high.
Gold is trading flat as traders stay "sceptical about the durability of the Iran-Israel ceasefire," Waterer said.
They are also holding back ahead of US inflation data due this week, which will help shape the Fed's policy outlook.
Spot gold edged up 0.1 percent to US$4,333.91 an ounce as of 0404 GMT on Tuesday, a session after touching its lowest point in more than two months, Reuters reported.
Among other precious metals, silver fell 0.5 percent to US$67.85 an ounce, platinum lost 0.1 percent to US$1,752.45 and palladium rose 1 percent to US$1,216.42.
