MADRID (MarketWatch) — Gold prices rose on Thursday, alongside gains for equities and a pullback for the U.S. dollar, though fresh data confirmed a drop in demand for the precious metal last year. After settling at the lowest level in a month on Wednesday, gold for April delivery GCJ5, +0.50% rose around $4.80, or 0.39%, to $1,224 an ounce in electronic trading. March silver SIH5, +0.74% gained 6 cents, or 0.4%, to $16.82 an ounce. The outcome of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Greece’s debt obligations was inconclusive, with six hours of talks resulting in a kick-the-can-down-the road action. Eurozone finance ministers said they’d keep talking in coming days to cement a plan. U.S. stock futures were higher after news of a Ukraine cease-fire deal with Russia but retreated somewhat, although still in the green, after weaker-than-expected January retail sales report, which showed a seasonally adjusted decline of 0.8%, as consumers seemed reluctant to use savings from oil on purchases. The disappointing retail sales figures come as a report showed that jobless claims climbed by 25,000 to 304,000 in the first week of February. Gold ticked modestly higher on the less-than-spectacular reports. Meanwhile, the dollar index DXY, -0.48% fell 0.3% to 94.72 as investors bought stocks. Oil prices CLH5, +2.25% were also getting a healthy kick higher, up 2.3%. The World Gold Council report showed that gold demand fell last year amid a demand fall in two key markets: China and India. However, it also said gold demand growth rose into the end of the year—fourth-quarter demand was 988 tons, up 6% from the same period the year before. See: Global demand for gold drops in 2014 In other metals, platinum for April delivery PLJ5, +0.75% rose $9.90, or 0.8%, to $1,205.20 an ounce, while March palladium PAH5, +0.59% ticked on $6.95, or 0.9%, to $773.50 an ounce. High-grade copper for March delivery HGH5, +1.79% jumped 4 cents, or 1.5%, to $2.579 a pound.

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