By Zhang Mengying

– Gold was down on Thursday morning in Asia and fell to the lowest in nearly a year as investors expect interest rate hikes by major central banks to curb soaring inflation.

Gold futures was down 0.66% to $1,689.05 by 12:03 AM ET (4:13 AM GMT). The dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, edged down on Thursday morning.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates by 75 basis points at its July 26-27 policy meeting.

Across the Atlantic, the European Central Bank is set to raise interest rates for the first time since 2011 on Thursday, with a higher-than-expected move to contain runaway inflation.

“Clearly inflation expectations are receding because the Fed and other central banks are embarking on aggressive tightening regime, which is undermining gold’s appeal,” Ilya Spivak, a currency strategist at DailyFX, told Reuters.

In Japan, the Bank of Japan kept its interest rate unchanged, even as it predicts more consumer inflation amid higher commodity prices worldwide.

“Gold broke below $1,700/oz as investors continue to reduce exposure to the sector ahead of central bank meetings,” ANZ analysts said in a note.

Also on investors' radar is the reopening of the Nord Stream pipeline following a 10-day maintenance shutdown.

In other precious metals, spot silver fell 0.6%, platinum dipped 0.5%, and palladium rose 0.3%.