Ahead of the highly anticipated release of American inflation later today, gold prices braced for their biggest monthly drop since February at the end of the week.

U.S. gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,883.30 and spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,866.19 per ounce at 2:30 GMT. According to Nicholas Frappell, global head of institutional markets at ABC Refinery, the gold market has heeded the Federal Reserve's message about a longer plateau for interest rates. For Matt Simpson, a senior analyst at City Index, gold should see a dollar and lower bond yields to return above 1900 dollars, which “could require a series of particularly low inflation figures and for the Fed's hawkish bets to be reduced

Bullion was set for a nearly 4% drop this month and its second consecutive quarterly drop, with the dollar and 10-year Treasury yields heading for their best quarters in four years. Platinum gained 1% to 913.43 dollars and palladium added 0.7% to 1280.62 dollars, both poised to make quarterly gains if the trend continues. While cash rose 1% to $22.83 per ounce, it was also on track for its worst month in seven years