gold futures headed lower on wednesday pressured by a stronger us dollar and calls from some federal reserve officials for further interestrate hikes  as investors digested a fresh batch of eurozone inflation data gold futures slipped back below 2000 following hawkish comments by fed officials about the need for more interestrate hikes said rupert rowling market analyst at kinesis money in remarks to reuters reported tuesday st louis federal reserve president james bullard reiterated his call for higher us interest rates to combat inflation and said he doesnt see a recession taking place anytime soon the dip below the psychologically important 2000 threshold reflects a macroeconomic environment in which interest rates are still rising with the european central bank as well as the fed set to raise their benchmark rates in may said rowling in emailed commentary still even with the recent pullback gold remains at very elevated levels considering the price was languishing close to 1800 an ounce as recently as early march he said meanwhile a stronger us dollar has weighed on gold in recent sessions as the ice us dollar index last week rebounded off its lowest level since early february helping to curb a torrid rally in the yellow metal that saw it rise for six straight weeks in wednesday dealings the ice us dollar index rose 02 to 10193 trading around 04 higher week to date several other factors impeded gains in the price of gold as well said jim wyckoff senior analyst at kitco bearish outside market forces at midweek include a higher us dollar index rising us treasury yields and a drop in crudeoil prices wyckoff said in emailed comments data released on wednesday showed that uk inflation is proving sticky causing a broad selloff in government bonds that forced up yields and translated into a jump in us treasury rates the office for national statistics said consumer prices rose 101 yearoveryear in march down from 104 in february though above economists forecasts for a 98 rate this content was created by marketwatch which is operated by dow jones  co marketwatch is published independently from dow jones newswires and the wall street journal