SINGAPORE, Nov 7: Gold held gains from the previous session on Thursday as investors bet the U.S. Federal Reserve would keep its stimulus measures for longer and as holdings in the biggest gold backed exchange-traded fund rose for the first time in two weeks.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was flat at $1,318.04 an ounce by 0022 GMT, after snapping a seven-day losing streak on Wednesday by gaining 0.5 percent.
* Markets are eyeing U.S. GDP data on Thursday and non farm payrolls data on Friday to gauge the strength of the economy, which is key in determining when the Fed would begin rolling back its $85 billion monthly bond purchases.
* SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 2.10 tonnes to 868.42 tonnes on Wednesday – the first increase since Oct. 22.
* Hedge funds and money managers raised bullish bets in futures and options of U.S. Gold and silver markets for the week ended Oct. 29, a report by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed.
* Gold buying in India tapered off further after the festival week, even as domestic users started getting small import lots, weighing on premiums.
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MARKET NEWS
* Asian stocks got off to sluggish start on Thursday as investors hunkered down to take the latest pulse on the U.S. economy and implications for the Fed’s easy money policy, while the euro perked up ahead of the European Central Bank meeting.
(agencies)
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