The price of gold was lingering near its three-year low Thursday morning, with the US dollar trading steady versus a basket of currencies amid the recent batch of upbeat economic data.
Gold for August delivery, the most actively traded contract, edged down $0.10 to $1,229.79 an ounce. Yesterday, gold plunged over 3 percent to end at a near three-year low after a slew of recent upbeat macroeconomic data stoked fears the Federal Reserve would slash its quantitative easing program very soon. Investors also weighed the outlook provided by some analysts, lowering their gold price forecast earlier this week.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged at 969.50 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was trading steady near its one-month high versus the euro, sterling and the Swiss franc, while ticking higher versus the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, Germany's unemployment rate decreased from the previous month in May, data released by the Federal Statistical Office showed. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 5.3 percent in May from 5.4 percent in April. Compared to May 2012, the jobless rate slid 3.6 percent.
Euro zone economic confidence improved more than expected in June driven by brightening sentiment among consumers and managers, survey data from European Commission showed. The economic sentiment index rose to 91.3 in June from 89.5 a month ago. The reading exceeded the consensus forecast of 90.4.
The U.K. economy escaped recession in the first quarter as previously estimated, final data from the Office for National Statistics showed.. Gross domestic product expanded 0.3 percent in the first quarter, reversing last quarter's 0.2 percent contraction. Compared to the first quarter of 2012, the economy grew 0.3 percent, following nil growth in the prior quarter.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were trading higher in morning deals.
From the U.S., the Labor Department will release its jobless claims report for the week ended June 22nd at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect claims to have declined to 345,000 from 354,000 in the previous week.
Simultaneously, the Commerce Department will release its personal income and spending for May. The consensus estimates call for a 0.2 percent month-over-month increase in personal income and a 0.4 percent climb in personal spending.
Later during the trading session, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its pending home sales index for May. Economists expect the index to have risen 1 percent for May following a 0.3 percent increase in April.
