Gold remained flat on Thursday, as the market awaited the U.S. jobs data released tomorrow, looking for guidelines for monetary policy for the rest of the year.

At 1836 GMT, spot gold fell 0.01% to $ 1,344.56 an ounce. The previous session hit a minimum of 1,332.30 U.S. dollars on January 23.

April U.S. dollar gold futures closed up 4.80 U.S. dollars, or 0.4%, to end at 1,347.90 U.S. dollars.

The Federal Reserve Board (FED / Fed) kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, but said it expects inflation to rise this year, suggesting a "gradual" rate hike.

"There is one thing that could upset the Fed's plan to raise rates three times this year, and that's the payroll. Undoubtedly, the jobless rate has been declining and the employment rate has been rising, but the payroll has not seen any improvement," said Chris Gaffney, president of EverBank.

Employment data is stronger than expected, with jobless rates and wage increases indicating strong economic conditions that could push the dollar higher and weigh on gold, Gaffney added.

Gold rose only 3.2% in January as the dollar fell to a three-year low against a basket of currencies. Gold hit a 17-month peak of $ 1,366.07 on January 25.

On Wednesday, the Fed said it was confident of inflation and economic growth in the United States and consolidated its view on how many times the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year, after which the dollar index fell.

<>Gold calm wait for US employment data released
<>Gold calm wait for US employment data released

 

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