Gold futures dropped more than 1% to US$1271.90 an ounce.

Spot gold was trading at $1270.90/oz or A$1815.74/oz, as the Australian dollar sat at US70c even.

According to the World Gold Council, central banks lifted their gold purchases by 68% in the March quarter, lifting overall gold demand by 7%.

"The beginning of 2019 saw a sharp recovery in investor sentiment in both the equity and debt markets, but appetite for gold remained solid," WGC head of market intelligence Alistair Hewitt said.

"European investment in ETFs hit a record high and this quarter's figures suggest that the factors that are driving the investment - negative yields on Eurozone sovereign debt, geopolitical uncertainty and financial market volatility - will continue to underpin investment demand.

"In addition, central banks on both sides of the Atlantic putting monetary policy tightening on hold - and potentially easing - is likely to be supportive of gold."

Base metals had another poor session, though Wednesday's biggest loser, lead, gained 1.5%.

Copper dropped 1% to a two-and-a-half-month low of $6166 per tonne, nickel was at a three-month low of $12,075/t, and zinc was near a two-month low of $2816/t.

Australian futures were up 9 points, despite falls in global stocks overnight.