The price of gold was ticking higher Thursday morning with the U.S. dollar trading firm versus a basket of currencies after U.S. President Barack Obama progressed in seeking full congressional approval for "limited" strikes in Syria.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a resolution allowing Obama to conduct military strikes against Syria.
Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, edged up $5.00 to $1,395.00 an ounce. Yesterday, gold lost nearly 2 percent to settle below the $1,400-mark as investors closely monitored the developments surrounding the push for military action against Syria by the U.S. and its allies. The precious metal slumped despite production being hit as a result of the ongoing South African gold mines strike with workers demanding more pay, even as indications of possible negotiations appeared bright.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged at 919.23 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was hovering around its 6-week high versus the euro and a three-week high against the Swiss franc. The buck was trading flat versus sterling and the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, new orders in the German manufacturing sector decreased in July after recording strong growth in the previous month, preliminary estimates released by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology showed. New orders received by goods producers dropped a seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent sequentially in July, reversing the revised 5 percent increase recorded in June. Economists had forecast a slower decrease of 1 percent for July, following the previous month's originally reported 3.6 percent gain.
The European Central Bank is slated to announce its interest rate decision at 7.45 a.m ET. The bank is expected to retain its refi rate at a record low 0.50 percent.
Elsewhere, the Bank of England retained the asset purchase facility at GBP 375 billion and interest rate at a record low 0.50 percent.
Meanwhile, the prices of silver and platinum were ticking higher in morning deals.
From the U.S., the the ADP will release its U.S. private sector employment for August at 8:15 a.m. ET. Economists expect private payrolls to have expanded by 177,000, slower than the 200,000 pace seen for July.
The Labor Department is due to release its jobless claims report for the week ended August 31 at 8:30 a.m. ET. The consensus estimates call for a small dip in the weekly jobless claims to 330,000 from 331,000 in the previous week.
The Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release the results of its non-manufacturing index at 10 a.m. ET. The consensus estimates call for a decline in the index to 55 in August from 56 in July.
Simultaneously, the Commerce Department will release its factory orders report for July. Economists expect a 3.4 percent decline in factory orders following a 1.5 percent increase in June.
