February gold futures are expected to open floor trading in New York around unchanged levels on Thursday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. March silver is expected to be down 3 cents an ounce. At 7:56 a.m. EST (1256 GMT), spot gold was trading down $4.05 to $850.05. In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is down to $1.2991 from $1.3020 late Wednesday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the March S&P 500 futures are down 2.70 points to 834. March crude oil is up 17 cents $43.72 a barrel in overnight activity. The two main U.S. economic reports in a data-light week are due out at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT. First-time weekly jobless claims are forecast to rise 26,000 to 550,000, while December housing starts are expected to fall 4% to an annualized rate of 600,000. Weekly energy-inventory data - which can move crude oil, which in turn often leads price direction for metals - is due out at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT). In New York Wednesday, gold futures closed softer as the dollar firmed against the euro, but the metal was mostly sideways during an "inside day" on a daily chart. February gold fell $5.10 to $850.10. March silver was the only precious metal to post a gain, adding 15 cents to $11.325. Comex gold warehouse stocks were down 933 ounces at 8,529,154 ounces Wednesday, while silver stocks were down 1,754,888 ounces at 123,835,405 ounces.

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