Gold prices rose on Thursday as investors digested policy actions by the European Central Bank which could influence trading in precious metals.
The ECB, as expected, boosted the size of its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program on Thursday, saying the envelope for asset purchases was increased by €600 billion ($674.5 billion), to €1.35 trillion euros.
The PEPP is now set to run through at least the end of June 2021, versus the end of 2020, while maturing principal payments from assets purchased under the plan will be reinvested until at least the end of 2022, the ECB said.
The action comes after ECB President Christine Lagarde downgraded the central bank’s eurozone gross domestic product estimate to a decline between 8% and 12% this year. She will host a news conference featuring at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
Gold buying has been buoyed by central bank stimulus measures to limit the economic harm from the COVID-19 pandemic, but signs of economies coming back to life from lockdowns to halt the spread of the deadly infection has dulled bullion’s appeal.
Gold for August delivery
GCQ20,
on Comex was trading $7.70, or 0.4%, higher at $1,712.30 an ounce, after tumbling 1.7% on Wednesday, amid a strong rally in global equities.
Meanwhile, July silver
SIN20,
was virtually unchanged at $17.955 an ounce, following a 1.7% drop in gold’s sister metal on Wednesday.
Investors in precious metals also may watch for a report on U.S. weekly new jobless claims to gauge whether the worst of the impact of the viral outbreak has passed.
On Wednesday, gains in the stock market followed data from Automatic Data Processing Inc., which showed the private sector shed 2.76 million jobs in May. That was well below forecasts from economists surveyed by Econoday who expected a loss of 8.66 million.
The report on claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Source : MTV
