LONDON: Gold rose on Thursday after the European Central Bank (ECB) lifted its 2016 inflation forecast and as the market awaited key US economic data.

Spot gold rose 0.7 per cent to $1,208.60 an ounce by 1541 GMT, having lost 1pc in the past three sessions on a firm dollar and robust US economic data.

US gold for April delivery edged 0.5pc higher to $1,207.50 an ounce.

Higher rates could hurt demand for non-interest-bearing assets such as gold. SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, saw its holdings drop to a one-month low of 760.80 tonnes this week, having posted a near 8 tonne fall, its biggest one-day outflow for the year so far.

Spot silver rose 0.7pc to $16.30 an ounce, while palladium was flat at $824.55 an ounce and platinum was up 0.8pc at $1,189 an ounce.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2015

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