Gold eased on Thursday, changing direction and falling below $1,200 an ounce as short-covering dried up after buoying prices following the European Central Bank’s (ECB) announcement that it will lift its 2016 inflation forecast. The ECB held interest rates unchanged at record lows while raising next year’s inflation expectation to 1.5 percent from 1.3 percent and predicting 2017 inflation at 1.8 percent. “The ECB is much more optimistic regarding growth and inflation than we are … people are looking at currency devaluation and see gold as an alternative,� Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said. Gold is usually viewed as a hedge against inflation. U.S. gold for April delivery settled down 0.4 percent at $1,196.20 an ounce. “The short-covering petered out and that’s led to the market drifting lower,� said James Steel, chief metals analyst for HSBC Securities in New York. The move appeared to be technical as prices fell below the psychological $1,200 level. U.S. non-farm payroll numbers, due on Friday, will be scanned for clues on how they could affect the timing of any interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve. Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX) share price increased in the last trading session with a previous 52-week high of $20.81. The stock was trading on above-average volume. The stock traded at a volume of 9.79 million shares at a price gain of 0.33%. The share price is now down 2.61% for the past three months. Latest closing price was 2.65% above its 50-day moving average and -16.57% below its 200-day moving average. While trading at volume higher than average, Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM) climbed 0.44% at the end of recent close. Its previous 52-week high was $27.34 and moved down -7.46% over the same period, trading at a volume of 3.45 million. Shares have fallen -3.62% over the trailing 6 months. The stock is currently trading 10.38% above its SMA 50 and 9.55% above its SMA 200. Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE:GG) closed at $20.69, up 0.18 points or 0.88% from previous close and at a distance of -7.54% from 20-day simple moving average. Over the last 12 months, a return on equity of -11.40 percent was realized due to the financial situation and earnings per share reached a value of $-2.68. Last fiscal year, $0.60 has been paid in form of dividends to investors. Earnings are projected to move up 5.70 percent for the coming five years. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd (USA) (NYSE:AEM) moved down -3.18% over the past 12 months and its price history showed most recently beta was at -0.56. Overall the trailing twelve months, the percentage change in the price was -25.83%, hitting the highest of $42.21 on Jul 29, 2014 while lowest level in that period was $21.65 on Dec 17, 2014.

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