SINGAPORE, July 5 (Reuters) – Gold held steady around $1,615
an ounce on Thursday, as the anticipation of a rate cut by the
European Central Bank offset the impact of a stronger dollar.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was little changed at $1,614.79 an ounce
by 0020 GMT.
* U.S. gold futures contract for August delivery
edged down 0.4 percent to $1,615.60.
* Investors are keeping an eye out for decisions by the ECB
and Bank of England, with expectations that the ECB will cut
interest rates to a record low and the BOE will announce new
bond buying.
* Surveys on Wednesday showed all of Europe’s biggest
economies are in recession or heading there and there is little
sign things will improve soon.
* Adding to concerns about the health of global economy and
pressure for central banks to take more accommodative stance,
China’s service sector grew at its slowest pace in 10 months in
June, the China HSBC services purchasing managers index showed.
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MARKET NEWS
* The euro wallowed near one-week lows on Thursday,
struggling to find any traction ahead of a widely expected rate
cut by the ECB, while the dollar gained half a percent against a
basket of currencies.
* Benchmark oil prices hovered below $100 a barrel on
Thursday after sharp gains earlier in the week, as new evidence
of grim economic conditions in Europe offset expectations of
fresh stimulus measures.
DATA/EVENTS
1100 Britain BOE Bank Rate July
1145 EZ ECB rate decision July
1215 U.S. ADP employment report June
1430 U.S. Jobless claims Weekly
PRICES
Precious metals prices 0020 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1614.79 -0.34 -0.02 3.26
Spot Silver 28.17 0.06 +0.21 1.73
Spot Platinum 1474.75 2.02 +0.14 5.87
Spot Palladium 594.25 2.30 +0.39 -8.93
COMEX GOLD AUG2 1615.60 -6.20 -0.38 3.11 28193
COMEX SILVER SEP2 28.17 -0.12 -0.41 0.90 7926
Euro/Dollar 1.2528
Dollar/Yen 79.91
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
