Investing.com - Gold prices eased slightly in Asian trade on Friday, retracing overnight gains in the U.S. after the European Central Bank left monetary policy unchanged and sparked demand for the single currency, which came at the greenback's expense.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery traded at US$1,350.00 a troy ounce, down 0.13%, afterhitting an overnight session low of $1,331.40 and off a high of $1,352.40.
The ECB left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.5%, as recent data pointed to a moderate recovery in the euro zone.
Meanwhile in the U.S., the Department of Labor reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week fell by 26,000 to 323,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 349,000.
Analysts were expecting jobless claims to fall by 11,000 to 338,000 last week.
A separate report showed that U.S. factory orders fell 0.7% in February, compared to expectations for a 0.4% decline.
Silver for May delivery was down 0.19% US$21.533 a troy ounce, while copper futures for May delivery were down 0.03% at US$3.215 a pound.