Gold Little Changed After 2-Day Fall Ahead Of Central Banks Meeting

Gold was little changed Thursday after two consecutive sessions of losses, as traders remain cautious ahead of European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England (BoE) policy meeting later today.

The shiny metal capped some of its losses in Asia, despite strong jobs data and rising caution ahead of the U.S. non-farm payrolls report, which will help further gauge the outlook for the Federal Reserve`s stimulus measures, weighed on the metal`s safe-haven appeal.

Spot gold added 0.38 percent or 4.64 points to $1,226.78 an ounce as of 03:20 ET, compared with yesterday's close at $1.225.76.

Gold fell in the previous session following an update from the Federal Reserve that could signal further weakness. Federal Reserve minutes increased expectations that policy makers will make further reductions to their monthly bond-buying program, curbing haven demand.

The minutes showed many Fed officials wanted to proceed with its decision in the $85 billion monthly asset purchases, while solid economic data seemed to indicate that the Fed is likely to continue cutting its stimulus.

A report released in the previous session showed that private-sector payrolls showed private sector employment to have increased more than expected in December, adding to signs of recovery in the U.S. economy and the labor sector in particular.

Meanwhile, the key non-farm payrolls figure is forecast to drop to 195,000 from 203,000. The overall unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 7.0 percent in December.

As of (10.25 GMT+3), the dollar index traded around 81.14 after opening at 81.20--the USDIX hit a high of 82.24 and a low of 81.11.

Trading is expected to remain weak as investors trade cautiously ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) first monetary policy meetings for this year later in the session.

The ECB is widely expected to keep policy unchanged following the surprise rate cut in November to 0.25%.Bank of England is also is expected to keep its main interest rate and its stimulus program unchanged in January.

Among other precious metals:

- Spot Silver was at $ 19.55 an ounce, up by 0.68%

- Spot Platinum was at $ 1,417.70 an ounce, rising 0.42%

- Spot Palladium was at $ 735.70 an ounce, down by 0.16%

Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund was unchanged today after falling 1.50 tones to 793.12 tons on Wednesday - the lowest in five years.