FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold edged down 0.03% to $ 1,736.76 an ounce at 0149 GMT. US gold futures fell 0.3% to $ 1,736.50 an ounce.
* Federal Reserve officials are concerned about the lingering risks of the COVID-19 pandemic and have pledged to support the economy until its recovery is more stable, according to the minutes of the latest policy meeting of the central bank released Wednesday.
* Asian stocks were on track to reflect the cautious gains on Wall Street, weighing on the safe-haven appeal of the metal.
* The United States’ trade deficit hit an all-time high in February, thanks to a massive fiscal stimulus that is expected to put the country’s economy back on the fastest growing track in nearly four decades.
* US President Joe Biden has made a strong appeal for US companies to foot the bulk of the bill for his more than $ 2 trillion infrastructure plan, but has signaled an opening to negotiate exactly how much they should pay.
* Limiting losses in gold, the US dollar traded near its more than two-week lows against its major peers on Thursday, followed by lower Treasury yields.
* SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.35 tonnes to 1,028.69 tonnes on Wednesday from 1,029.04 tonnes on Tuesday.
* The National Bank of Hungary (NBH) said it had tripled the country’s gold reserves to 94.5 tonnes, its highest level in decades.
* Silver was down 0.3% to $ 25.03 and Palladium was down 0.2% to $ 2,617.71. Platinum rose 0.1% to $ 1,226.16.
DATA / EVENTS (GMT) 0600 Germany Industrial orders MM Feb 0645 France Reserve assets Total March 1230 US Initial Jobless Clm Weekly
