* U.S. CPI data due on Wednesday
* Gold on track for its worst day since April 30
May 13 (Reuters) - Gold prices fell on Monday, as investors awaited key U.S. inflation data due later this week, which could shed light on the timing of the Federal Reserve's first rate cut.
Spot gold was down 0.9% to $2,339.80 per ounce by 0933 GMT after hitting its highest level since April 22 on Friday. It was headed for its biggest daily decline in nearly two weeks.
U.S. gold futures fell 1.2% to $2,346.00.
"Probably some profit-taking ahead of the important CPI data this week is weighing on gold prices today. To see a further uptick in gold prices, there needs to be a clear slowdown in inflation readings," UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
"I would expect gold prices to stay supported around current levels, with modest downside," Staunovo added.
On investors' radar this week is the U.S. producer price index (PPI) data, scheduled for release on Tuesday, followed by the consumer price index (CPI) on Wednesday.
Median forecasts are for April core consumer prices to rise 0.3%, compared with 0.4% in March, pulling the annual rate down to 3.6%, according to a Reuters poll.
Gold rose over 1% last week following a weak jobs report, buttressing bets of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve this year.
According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders are pricing in about a 63% chance of a cut in September. Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.
Debate among Fed officials intensified last week regarding whether U.S. interest rates are sufficiently high.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said on Friday that the current state of the economy means he is not sure what is next for the central bank's interest rate policy.
Among other precious metals, spot silver was little changed at $28.12 per ounce, platinum was up 0.3% at $996.63 and palladium rose 0.2% to $979.67.
(Reporting by Daksh Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng)
