Gold climbed to $1,054.20 (+0.44%) after a sharp decline in the previous session, but remained not far from a six-year low. On Wednesday the central bank of the U.S. raised its interest rates to a range of 0.25%-0.50% from 0%-0.25%. Higher rates increase the opportunity cost of holding the non-interest paying precious metal and reduce demand for it. Bullion is on track to post a nearly 2% decline this week.

Technical analysts say that the precious metal may test the key $1,000 level soon.

Assets in SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest gold-backed exchange-traded fund in the world, fell 0.70% to 630.17 tonnes on Thursday, the lowest since September 2008.