Investing.com - Gold futures were little changed near a three-week high during early European trade on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve re-affirmed its commitment to leave interest rates unchanged near zero and continue buying $85 billion in debt each month. Uncertainty remained over the situation in Cyprus, where the country’s parliament rejected a proposed bank deposit tax, which formed part of a EUR10 billion international bailout deal. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery traded at USD1,607.90 a troy ounce during European morning trade, nearly flat on the day. Prices held in a tight USD5-trading range between USD1,603.70 a troy ounce, the daily low and a session high of USD1,608.90. Comex gold prices rose to USD1,614.60 a troy ounce on Tuesday , the strongest level since February 26. Gold prices were likely to find support at USD1,560.60 a troy ounce, the low from March 8 and near-term resistance at USD1,619.40, the high from February 26. Sentiment on the precious metal remained upbeat after the Federal Reserve reiterated its commitment to its asset purchase program despite signs of a strengthening U.S. economy. The Fed announced that it will leave monetary policy unchanged at the end of its two day policy meeting on Wednesday, citing concerns over high unemployment levels and risks from tax increases and federal government spending cuts. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said further gains in the U.S. labor market are needed to consider scaling back record monetary easing. Fed officials forecast the nation’s unemployment rate won’t fall enough to warrant interest rate cuts until 2015. Fed officials reaffirmed their commitment to keeping short-term interest rates at record low levels at least until unemployment falls to 6.5%. The current unemployment rate is 7.7%. Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the Fed could bring quantitative easing to an end this year. Meanwhile, in Cyprus, negotiations aimed at finding an alternative solution on a bailout deal for the tiny island continued after the country’s parliament rejected a controversial bank deposit tax in a vote on Tuesday. Cyprus needs to come up with EUR5.8 billion on its own in order to secure EUR10 billion in rescue loans from international creditors. Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for May delivery added 0.2% to trade at USD28.87 a troy ounce, while copper for May delivery rose 0.6% to trade at USD3.466 a pound. Copper prices were boosted following the release of upbeat Chinese manufacturing data. China’s HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers Index, the earliest indicator of the country's industrial activity, rose to 51.7 in March from a final reading of 50.4 in February. The measure remains above 50.0, indicating an expansion in manufacturing activity. C

Source