India gold futures recovered from previous session's lows on Thursday due to bargain buying and further supported by a weak rupee, analysts said. "Gold may witness more upside today on expectations of a rate cut by the ECB (European Central Bank)," said Kunal Shah, an analyst with Nirmal Bang Commodities in Mumbai. The European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates to an all-time low of 1.5 percent on Thursday and slash its 2009 and 2010 economic forecasts to reflect the break-neck pace of deterioration in the euro zone. A weaker rupee makes the dollar-quoted asset expensive. The Indian rupee weakened on Thursday as a stronger dollar overseas, higher non-deliverable forwards and losses in domestic shares combined to weigh down sentiment. The benchmark April gold contract was 1.55 percent higher at 15,224 rupees per 10 grams at 11:45 a.m., after hitting an intra-day low of 14,966 in the previous session. "We expect prices to be at 15,300 rupees in the next two days," said Gnansekar Thiagarajan, director with Commtrendz Research in Mumbai. Buying is recommended on a dip to 15,150 rupees with a stop loss of 14,955 and a target of 15,360 rupees, Shah added. Gold may trade in the range of 14,900-15,250 for the day, said Pranav Mer, an analyst with India Infoline.

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