Gold steadies

LONDON. — Gold steadied yesterday after the previous day’s slide, with a drop in the dollar against the euro after the European Central Bank’s latest policy statement reducing pressure on the metal.

The ECB said on Thursday that it could extend the bond purchases it has been carrying out over the past three years to depress borrowing costs, but it omitted a long-standing reference to increasing them. That is seen as a precursor to a broader policy revision later this year to rein in its extraordinary stimulus measures.

The dollar, which had been buoyed by news that the White House could exempt key trading partners from the steel and aluminium import tariffs it proposed last week, edged lower against the euro after the ECB statement. Spot gold was at $1,325.54 an ounce by 1328 GMT, little changed from late on Wednesday, when it touched a one-week high of $1,340.42 before closing 0,6 percent lower.

US gold futures were down 0,1 percent at $1,326.10. ABN Amro analyst Georgette Boele said the dollar would remain the key driver of gold prices in the near term.

“The only reason we were up near $1,340 was because the dollar fell towards the end of last week,” she said.

Friday’s non-farm payrolls data for February, a key barometer of the US economy, is now being awaited for further clues on the pace of Federal Reserve rate increases.