Investing.com - Gold inched up modestly on Thursday, after the European Central Bank announced that its €60 billion monthly bond buying program would start on March 9 and last until inflation is on a sustained path to 2%.
The decision came after the ECB held its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.05%. The central bank also kept its marginal lending at 0.30% and left its deposit facility rate unchanged at -0.20%.
The euro bounced back slightly against the dollar, while the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, trimmed gains to trade up 0.05% to 96.03, well off the session high of 96.31.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery ticked up 90 cents, or 0.07%, to trade at $1,201.60 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours. Prices held in a tight range between $1,197.30 and $1,205.40.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,194.60, the low from March 3, and resistance at $1,223.00, the high from March 2.
Also Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits increased by 7,000 last week to 320,000 from the previous week’s total of 313,000. Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to fall by 18,000 to 295,000 last week.
Traders now looked ahead to the release of the latest U.S. nonfarm payrolls report on Friday, for further indications on the strength of the recovery in the labor market.
Market analysts expect the data to show that the U.S. economy added 240,000 jobs in February, slowing from a gain of 257,000 in January, while the unemployment rate was forecast to decline to 5.6% from 5.7%.
A strong U.S. nonfarm payrolls report was likely to add to speculation over when the Federal Reserve will begin to raise interest rates, while a weak number could boost gold by undermining the argument for an early rate hike.
Expectations of higher borrowing rates going forward is considered bearish for gold, as the precious metal struggles to compete with yield-bearing assets when rates are on the rise.
Meanwhile, silver futures for May delivery rose 6.0 cents, or 0.37%, to trade at $16.21 a troy ounce. On Wednesday, silver slumped 13.8 cents, or 0.85%, to close at $16.15 an ounce.
Elsewhere on the Comex, copper for May delivery tacked on 0.9 cents, or 0.33%, to trade at $2.668 a pound after China lowered its 2015 gross domestic product growth target to the lowest level in 11 years.
China's Premier Li Keqiang announced at the annual National People's Congress earlier that the government's target for economic growth in 2015 was set at "around 7%", down from a target of 7.5% in 2014.
Copper is sensitive to the economic growth outlook because of its widespread uses across industries.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.