Forexpros – Gold futures edged lower on Thursday, easing off a two-week high after the European Central Bank raised its benchmark interest rate, while upbeat U.S. jobs data eased concerns over U.S. economic growth. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for August delivery traded at USD1,527.25 a troy ounce during U.S. morning trade, easing down 0.11%. It earlier rose as much as 0.35% to trade at USD1,534.85 a troy ounce, the highest price since June 23. Earlier in the day, the ECB raised its key lending rate by 0.25% to 1.5%, it’s second rate hike this year. Speaking at the central bank’s post-policy meeting press conference, President Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB would continue to lend against debt issued or guaranteed by Portugal’s government. Ratings agency Moody’s earlier downgraded the government-guaranteed debt of Portuguese banks, after it cut the country's credit rating earlier in the week. In the U.S., payroll processing firm ADP said earlier that non-farm private employment rose by 157K in June, blowing past expectations for a gain of 60K. A separate report by the U.S. Department of Labor showed that U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 14K to 418K last week, more than the expected decline to 420K. Meanwhile, both Goldman Sachs and Bank of America-Merrill Lynch released upgrades to their gold price forecasts earlier Thursday. Goldman Sachs raised its three-month gold forecast to USD1,565 an ounce from USD1,480 an ounce, its six-month forecast to USD1,635 from USD1,565, and its 12-month forecast to USD1,730 from USD1,690. BofA-Merrill Lynch raised its average gold price forecast for the second half of the year by 5.3% to USD1498. For 2012, the lender expected prices to average USD1,550, 3% higher than a previous estimate, citing "increasing debt and fiscal issues in developed countries." Elsewhere, silver for September delivery jumped 1.3% to trade at USD36.38 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery rallied 2.1% to trade at USD4.424 a pound.

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