Thursday's Asian trading saw a small increase in gold prices, which had earlier retreated from significant levels amid concerns about the direction of U.S. interest rates due to robust labor market figures.

Spot gold advanced by 0.2% to $1,994.43 per ounce, meanwhile gold futures added 0.1% to $1,995.20 per ounce.

This week, there was a notable surge in the yellow metal due to increasing expectations that the Federal Reserve would be stopping its current cycle of rate hikes. Tuesday saw a temporary increase in gold prices above $2000 per ounce.

However, hawkish hints from the minutes of the most recent Fed meeting and signs of resiliency in the US labor market halted the gold rally. The dollar's recovery from almost three-month lows also had an impact on bullion prices.

The fact that this week was a market holiday in both the US and Japan also contributed to a little decrease in gold trade volume.

According to data released on Wednesday, the prior week's decrease in U.S. unemployment claims was not as sharp as investors had anticipated, suggesting that the labor market was not cooling off as fast.