Gold is currently taking a breath at $1,053.20 (-0.06%) after a sharp fall on Wednesday. Yesterday's comments by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen suggested that the central bank is on track to conduct the first interest rate hike in nearly a decade this month.

Investors are waiting for the U.S. payrolls report due on Friday to reassure themselves that the central bank of the U.S. will take the anticipated step. Meanwhile a report from Automated Data Processing showed on Wednesday that the number of employed rose by 217,000 in November comfortably beating expectations for a 190,000 rise.

Assets in SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest gold-backed exchange-traded fund in the world, fell 2.41% to 639.02 tonnes on Wednesday, marking the biggest single-day percentage fall in four years.