Gold rises in Asian trade but remains below the psychologically-important $4,000 mark. While softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data eased bets of the Federal Reserve tightening its monetary policy and initially supported bullion by weighing on the dollar and bond yields, that momentum has faded as yields recovered slightly, says Critical Metals' Tony Sage in commentary.

Still, continued central bank gold-buying should be able to limit risk of declines over the longer term, he adds. Spot gold rises 0.2% to $3,983.94 a troy ounce.