LONDON — Gold edged lower on Thursday as signs of a strengthening US economy encouraged investors to take riskier bets, but speculation that central banks would stick to easy money policies continued to put a floor under prices. Gold prices have held in a narrow range for four sessions as traders await the outcome of European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England policy meetings later in the day, and Friday’s US nonfarm payrolls report. European shares rose, pushing major indices close to multiyear highs, and the euro held near three-month lows versus the dollar on expectation the ECB could point to future policy easing after its rate-setting meeting later. "Investors are not really looking for safe havens at the moment," Commerzbank commodities research head Eugen Weinberg said. "Gold as inflation protection should get more demand from investors in the second half of the year. Right now, the market participants are looking for more yield and they’re finding it in other asset classes like equities," he said. Spot gold was down 0.1% at $1,581.16 an ounce at 11.17am GMT, while US gold futures for April delivery were up 0.4% at $1,580.80. Ultra-loose monetary policy, known as quantitative easing, has supported gold in recent years by keeping up pressure on long-term interest rates and stoking fear over inflation, while concern about global economic weakness boosted safe-haven flows. Speculation that the ECB and the Bank of England could signal that looser policy would continue, is underpinning gold, though gains in other markets are offsetting that. Official US nonfarm payroll figures due on Friday will be closely watched for further signs of recovery in the world’s leading economy, which could influence the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy. Despite the Fed’s efforts to use easy monetary policy to boost jobs, the country’s economy is stuck in "neutral" more than three years after the end of the recession, a top Fed official said on Wednesday. More banks cut gold forecasts Australian bank Macquarie said on Thursday that gold could average $1,530 an ounce this year, down from $1,668 an ounce in 2012, if investment demand remains weak. That would represent the first annual fall in average gold prices since 2001. "Without a compelling new driver, weaker investment demand for gold is likely to continue on reduced tail risks, low inflation, and a lower prospect of more QE (quantitative easing)," the bank said in a note. "So important has investment become to the gold market that even a modest fall is likely to have a significant impact on the price." Nomura cut its 2013 gold price forecast to $1,602 an ounce from $1,981 on Thursday, saying the investment environment for gold was deteriorating as economic recovery, rising interest rates and still benign Western inflation left some investors rethinking their positions. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF), stood unchanged at 1,244.855 tonnes on Wednesday, after 11 straight sessions of outflows. On the physical side of the market, buyers in China slowed their robust purchases of gold as the material bought in previous weeks started to arrive onshore and eased a supply shortage. China’s domestic gold prices had been trading at premiums of over $20 above international prices in the past few days, but that spread shrank to just over $10 on Thursday. It could further narrow to single-digit figures in the absence of another sharp fall in international market, traders said. Buying from India, the world’s top gold consumer, also slowed as the approach of the end of the fiscal year dented interest in purchasing the metal. Among other precious metals, silver was down 0.4% at $28.90 an ounce, while spot platinum was up 0.6% at $1,593.99 an ounce and spot palladium was up 0.1% at $745.22 an ounce.

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