The price of gold was holding on to its recent gains Thursday morning with continued ETF outflows balanced by strong physical demand.
Gold for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, eased $3.80 to $1,469.90 an ounce. Yesterday, gold settled sharply higher near four-week high as the dollar turned weaker against a basket of major currencies and supported by strong demand from Asia. Gold prices were also buoyed by speculations of further monetary easing in Europe, and with equity markets worldwide trending higher.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved down to 1,051.47 tons from 1,057.79 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was lingering around its weekly low versus the euro and near a three-month low versus sterling. The buck was steady around its 4-year high versus the yen, while moving lower against the Swiss franc.
In economic news from the euro zone, the Bank of England held steady its key rates and its quantitative easing unchanged at GBP 375 billion.
Earlier today, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed that U.K. industrial production grew more than expected in March, but the rate of increase eased from the prior month. Industrial output advanced 0.7 percent month-on-month, down from 0.9 percent rise logged in February. But it far exceeded the 0.2 percent rise forecast by economists.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were ticking higher in morning deals.
From the U.S., the Labor Department will come out with its report on weekly jobless claims for the weekended May 03. Economists expect the claims to have increased to 335,000 in the week ended May 04 from 324,000 in the previous week.
Later during the session, the Commerce Department is due to release its wholesale inventories report for March. The consensus expectations call for a 0.4 percent month-over-month increase in wholesale inventories following a 0.3 percent drop in the previous month.
