After hitting a record high in recent times, gold prices in Asia eased a bit on Tuesday, and the material traded within 0.4% of its record, fueled by speculations that the central bank bullion purchases of gold would increase.

In light of the new development, the IMF, which set out to sell as much as one-eight of its current gold reserves, is looking to complete the process as soon as possible, as has been confirmed by the group's Finance Department's head. India purchased 200 metric tons of gold from IMF earlier this month, and Russia, Sri Lanka and Mauritius soon followed.

"There is definitely accumulation going on, whether by central banks or high net-worth individuals, so we can see the gold price is going to carry on moving higher, but that doesn’t mean that we’ re not going to see consolidation or pullbacks”, David Baker, Managing Partner of Baker Steel Capital Managers, said.

As the dollar strengthened, immediate trading prices of gold fell by 0.3% per ounce in Singapore. In the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange as well, the price of the material feel from an earlier $1.174 per ounce to $1,163.10.