Gold dips for first session in four, dollar mostly flat

Gold futures titled lower in Asian trade off February 3 highs while the dollar index tapered off for the day. 

As of 04:04 GMT, gold futures due in April fell 0.13% to $1,585 an ounce, while the dollar index hovered around 99.11. 

Earlier Japanese data showed GDP down 1.6% in the fourth quarter, compared to a 0.4% growth rate in the third. 

Japan's industrial production rose 1.2% in December, compared to a 1% drop in November. 

The Japanese government expected an economic slowdown in the last quarter of 2019 after raising taxes and following the tsunami that hit Japan recently, while warning that coronavirus might hurt growth in the first quarter of this year. 

China has also announced plans to cut the corporate tax and allow banks to operate more of the bad debt, while the People's Bank of China cut borrowing rates on some assets. 

Otherwise, Bloomberg estimates the Chinese economy was only working 40-50% of its capacity last week, with China announcing 2000 new cases with the coronavirus, with 100 dead.