(RTTNews) - The price of gold was ticking lower Thursday morning as the U.S. dollar was steady ahead of today's economic data.
Gold for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, eased $2.10 to $1,658.40 an ounce.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged at 1,286.62 tons.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was leveling off from its monthly low against the euro, while trading flat against sterling and the Swiss franc. The buck continued to move lower versus the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, Germany's unemployment rate declined to 6.7 percent in March from 6.8 percent in February, data from the Federal Labor Agency showed. Economists had forecast the jobless rate to remain steady at 6.8 percent for a third consecutive month. The number of unemployed persons declined by 18,000 from a month earlier in March. Economists expected the number of unemployed to decrease by 10,000.
Meanwhile, euro zone economic confidence dropped marginally in March after improving in January and February, survey data from the European Commission revealed. The economic sentiment index fell to 94.4 from 94.5 a month ago. The reading was below the consensus forecast of 94.5.
Elsewhere, the price of silver ticked higher, while platinum was moving lower in morning deals.
From the U.S., the Labor Department will release its customary jobless claims report for the week ended March 24 at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect claims to edge up to 350,000 in the recent reporting week from 348,000 in the previous week.
Around the same time, the Commerce Department is due to release its final estimate of fourth quarter GDP. Economists expect the GDP estimate to be left unrevised at 3 percent.
