Gold steadied on Thursday after three days of gains as the European Central Bank (ECB) left interest rates unchanged and maintained the parameters of its $1.95 trillion asset buying scheme. The ECB has provided extraordinary stimulus in recent years in response to high unemployment, weak growth and ultra low inflation, cutting interest rates into negative territory and pushing the cost of credit to all-time lows. Ultra-low rates tend to support gold, though that is often offset by the impact of a weaker euro. The single currency fell 0.3% against the dollar on Thursday. Spot gold was at $1,268.98 an ounce at 2.07pm GMT, little changed from late on Wednesday, having earlier risen as high as $1,273.81. US December gold futures were up 30c at $1,270.20. The precious metal has regained some technical momentum after closing on Wednesday above its 200-day moving average of $1,267. Gold saw good buying at the time of the ECB release, Mitsubishi analyst Jonathan Butler said. "(The) ECB will...
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