The price of gold moved back to a two-week high Thursday morning, with the US dollar trading lower versus a basket of currencies ahead of today's batch of macroeconomic data.
Gold for August delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained 10.0 to $1,401.80 an ounce. Yesterday, gold settled higher mostly on bargain hunting with little or no direction by way of economic indicators, even as the dollar weakened against a basket of major currencies and the euro strengthened. Gold also found some support with global equity markets pulling back on concerns the Federal Reserve could cut down on its quantitative easing program soon and reports of increased physical demand for the precious metal from Asia.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved up to 1,013.15 tons from 1,012.25 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar slipped back near a three-week low versus the euro and the Swiss franc, and toward a weekly low against sterling. The buck was steady near its 4-year high versus the yen.
In economic news, euro zone economic confidence strengthened in May, driven by brightening sentiment in all business sectors except for construction, survey results published by the European Commission showed. The economic confidence index climbed to 89.4 in May, in line with expectations, from 88.6 in April.
House prices in the UK rose more than expected in May, a survey by the Nationwide Building Society revealed. The house price index rose 1.1 percent year-on-year in May, compared with forecast of 0.9 percent rise. In April, prices recorded a 0.9 percent annual growth.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were moving higher in morning deals.
From the U.S., the Commerce Department will release its revised first quarter GDP estimate at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect the first quarter GDP growth to be left unrevised at 2.5 percent.
Simultaneously, the Labor Department will release its weekly jobless claims report for the week ended May 25. Economists expect claims to remain steady at 340,000.
Later during the session, the National Association of Realtors will release its pending home sales index for April. The consensus expectations call for a 1.4 percent increase in the index following a 1.5 percent increase in March.
