Bullions finish marginally higher

Bullion metal prices ended marginally higher on Thursday, 07 March 2013. Prices were steady despite a higher dollar. Investors weighed the metal's safe-haven appeal against a backdrop of U.S. economic releases, which were better thane expected in most cases.

Gold for April delivery ended higher by 20 cents at $1,575.1 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday. It traded high as $1,584.9 during intra day trading.

March silver ended higher by less than a cent (0.2%) at $28.81 an ounce on Thursday.

ECB President Mario Draghi said the central bank sees Europe's economy picking up in late 2013, but reduced growth projections for the year. He said the bank's monetary stance will remain accommodative. Draghi also played down the threat to euro-zone stability posed by Italy's inconclusive election results. The Bank of Japan also left monetary policy on hold, as widely expected ahead of a leadership handover set to take place later this month.

The dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies fell by 0.4% on Thursday.

The Euro currency and European stock markets were boosted Thursday by a successful Spanish bond auction that saw good investor demand and lower yields. Reports this week say that investor demand for physical gold has increased recently at the lower price levels.

Investors received a handful of economic data points prior to today's open at Wall Street. Weekly initial claims were reported at 340,000 while the consensus had expected a reading of 350,000. The report was encouraging as this was the second week which saw claims remain below the 350,000-400,000 range observed for much of last year.

Productivity was revised slightly higher to show a 1.9% decline versus a 2.0% decline that was previously reported. Unit labor costs were revised up to show a 4.6% increase versus the prior reading showing a 4.5% increase.

January trade deficit widened to $44.4 billion from $38.1 billion in December. Today's reading fell short of the $43.0 billion deficit expected by the consensus and the January report is apt to be a negative factor in many economists' models for first quarter GDP growth forecast.

The most important U.S. economic report of the month, the employment situation report for February, is due out Friday morning. The key non-farm payroll number is expected to come in at up 157,000, while the unemployment rate is forecast at 7.8%.

At the MCX, gold prices for April delivery closed lower by Rs 204 (0.7%) at Rs 29,389 per ten grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 29,678 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 29,358 per 10 grams during the day's trading.

At the MCX, silver prices for May delivery closed lower by Rs 312 (0.6%) at Rs 54,656/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 55,105/kg and fell to a low of Rs 54,616/Kg during the day's trading.

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