NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Gold prices climbed higher Thursday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's announcement that economic conditions would improve in the eurozone later in 2013. Gold lost 0.4% on Wednesday. Gold for February delivery was adding $14.50 to $1,670 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price traded as high as $1,672.60 and as low as $1,653.80 an ounce, while the spot price was jumping $18.80, according to Kitco's gold index. Draghi's comments put pressure on the U.S. dollar as the euro spiked by more than 1% on Wednesday. The yellow metal often benefits from a dip in the greenback as dollar-denominated gold becomes cheaper to purchase. Silver prices for March delivery were increasing 53 cents to $30.78 an ounce, while the U.S. dollar index was plummeting 0.77% to $79.99. "Later in 2013 economic activity should gradually recover. In particular, our accommodative monetary policy stance, together with significantly improved financial market confidence and reduced fragmentation, should work its way through to the economy, and global demand should strengthen," Draghi said at a press conference. "Gold was used as an investment that's supposed to not really correlate with the stock market -- that's why a lot of investors bought it, because they were afraid of the stock market," said Yoni Jacobs, chief investment strategist at Chart Prophet. "Over the last year or so you're seeing gold increasingly correlated with the market, so instead of becoming a riskless asset, it's actually become a risky asset." The Labor Department reported on Thursday that initial jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 5 rose by 4,000 to 371,000. Economists had expected claims to total 365,000. The rise in jobless claims also could be seen as positive for gold prices as the Federal Reserve has pegged keeping interest rates near zero to a 6.5% unemployment rate threshold. Should the rate dip to that level, the Fed noted last month, the central bank would begin to raise interest rates. The national unemployment rate ticked up to 7.8% in December -- a signal that the Fed wouldn't end low interest rates and, possibly, the quantitative easing programs. Gold prices continued to trade Thursday in a limited range, where it has remained since Fed members somewhat unexpectedly announced last week mixed sentiment as to the early expiration of its monetary stimulus. Though U.S. import and export prices expected to print Friday could give investors a better gauge of the inflation environment, there aren't many events that could drive gold in the near-term from its current range. "At this point, until you see gold making a decision, which is really the [upper resistance] $1,800-level and the [lower resistance] $1,500 level, it's in no-man's land," said Jacobs. "The smart investors are the ones who try to short when it reaches closer to $1,800, and try to buy when it goes toward $1,500." Gold mining stocks were mostly higher on Thursday. Shares of Yamana Gold (AUY_) were adding 4.4%, and shares of Eldorado Gold (EGO_) were tacking on 3.7%. Among volume leaders, Kinross Gold (KGC_) was up 1.7%, while Goldcorp (GG_) was increasing 3.6%.

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