LONDON: Gold prices recovered lost ground to edge higher on Thursday after European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said ECB policymakers would discuss potential changes to the bank’s bond-buying scheme in the autumn, lifting the euro to session highs.

Mr Draghi said the policymakers were unanimous in choosing not to change their guidance for monetary policy, and not to set a date for discussing changes to its stimulus programme. However, he flagged further discussions later in the year. That was enough to spark a recovery in the euro after early losses, lifting gold prices.

Spot gold was up 0.1 per cent at $1,241.10 an ounce at 1240 GMT, off an earlier low of $1,234.74. “Mr Draghi’s speech was essentially dovish, emphasising a ‘very substantial degree of accommodation’ and reaffirming the commitment to quantitative easing,” Mitsubishi analyst Jonathan Butler said.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2017