* Spot gold hit lowest level since Dec. 13 on Wednesday

* U.S. dollar index edged down 0.1%

* Atleast three more Fed officials scheduled to speak this week

Feb 15 (Reuters) - Gold edged up on Thursday as the U.S. dollar eased, but prices languished near a two-month trough as investors lowered expectations of sooner and deeper rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year.

Spot gold was up 0.2% at $1,995.50 per ounce, as of 1016 GMT, after hitting its lowest since Dec. 13 on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures rose 0.2% at $2,007.60.

The dollar index slipped 0.1%, making bullion less expensive for buyers holding other currencies.

"We believe that all the negative factors are already priced in. So from here, we are not expecting any (further) sharp downward move for gold prices," said Kunal Shah, head of research at Nirmal Bang Commodities in Mumbai.

Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr said the path back to 2% inflation "may be a bumpy one", echoing the "careful approach" to rate cuts advocated by Chair Jerome Powell. Meanwhile, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee cautioned against delaying the rate cuts for too long.

The comments came after an unexpected spike in U.S. consumer prices, which caused bullion to fall 1.4% on Tuesday.

Gold remains below $2,000, the move appeared to be a reluctant acceptance that rates may not fall as soon or as fast as hoped, a belief that had kept the yellow metal elevated since the start of the year, Craig Erlam, senior markets analyst at OANDA said in a note.

Fed policymakers will probably wait until June before cutting rates, traders bet after the CPI data. Higher interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding bullion.

Focus is now on the U.S. retail sales data due at 1330 GMT and the producer price index numbers due on Friday. At least three more Fed officials are scheduled to speak later this week.

Palladium gained 2.7% to $959.43 an ounce. It surged over 8% on Wednesday on short-covering, reclaiming its premium over platinum.

Spot platinum climbed 1% to $898.11 and silver rose 0.9% to $22.57.

(Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng)