• Gold price drifted lower following the release of the crucial US CPI report on Wednesday. 
• Diminishing odds for a 50-bps rate cut in September lifts the US bond yields and the USD.
• The prospects for an imminent start of the Fed’s policy-easing cycle offer some support.

Gold price (XAU/USD) witnessed an intraday pullback from the vicinity of the all-time peak on Wednesday after the latest US consumer inflation figures dashed hopes for a larger interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed) in September. Apart from this, the risk-on impulse further undermined the safe-haven precious metal, which settled in the red for the first time in three days. That said, the prospects for an imminent start of the Fed's policy-easing cycle assisted the non-yielding yellow metal to find some support and bounce off the $2,500 psychological mark.