By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) ? Gold futures climbed 0.5% Thursday, supported by strong Chinese export data and a softer dollar, while the European Central Bank?s impending interest-rate decision also grabbed traders? attention.
Gold for February delivery /quotes/zigman/4331913 GCG3 +0.54% ?lately gained $7.50 to $1,663.20 an ounce, erasing a $6.70 drop seen in Wednesday?s trading.
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News out of China helped lift gold prices, as data showed a surge in exports of 14.1% for December, well above expectations of a 4.6% increase, while imports picked up 6%, up from zero growth seen the previous month. The solid improvement in shipments helped widen the trade surplus to $31.6 billion in December. See: China?s exports surge, boosting trade surplus
Data from China indicating a pickup in activity tend to boost commodity prices, as the world?s second-largest economy makes considerable use of natural resources.
Metals prices were also helped by a drop in the U.S. dollar, making greenback-denominated commodities cheaper for other currency holders. The ICE dollar index /quotes/zigman/1652083 DXY -0.30% ?fell to 80.37 from 80.514 in late North American trading on Wednesday. Read more about currencies
Investors, however, remained cautious ahead of the European Central Bank?s announcement of its latest policy decision at 12:45 p.m. London time, or 7:45 a.m. U.S. Eastern. The bank was widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, with the focus likely to fall more on ECB President Mario Draghi?s following news conference.
The European Central Bank?s widely expected to keep rates on hold at its meeting Thursday.Ahead of the rate decision, ?it is clear that market players are initially exercising restraint,? analysts at Commerzbank said in a note.
?Speculation about interest-rate cuts had already been dampened ahead of the meeting by ECB council members. Furthermore, euro-zone sentiment indicators held in high regard by the ECB have continued to improve recently. The subsequent press conference is thus likely to be of more interest, as it is expected to offer a foretaste of the ECB?s future interest-rate policy,? they said.
Meanwhile, other metals futures showed solidly positive trends Thursday.
Silver for March delivery /quotes/zigman/8702780 SIH3 +0.96% ?gained 0.7% to $30.47 an ounce, while copper for the same month /quotes/zigman/678439 HGH3 +1.16% ?rose 1.2% to $3.71 a pound.
April platinum /quotes/zigman/8120427 PLJ3 -2.34% ?gained 0.8% to $1,613.30 an ounce, while the March contract for sister metal palladium /quotes/zigman/8702805 PAH3 +1.79% ?added 1.8% to $700.45 an ounce.
/quotes/zigman/4331913
US : U.S.: Comex
Volume: 29,422
Jan. 10, 2013 7:13a
/quotes/zigman/1652083 US : U.S.: ICE Futures U.S.
Volume: 0.00
Jan. 10, 2013 7:13a
/quotes/zigman/8702780 US : COMEX Consolidated
Volume: 9,991
Jan. 10, 2013 7:12a
/quotes/zigman/678439 US : U.S.: Comex
Volume: 15,858
Jan. 10, 2013 7:13a
/quotes/zigman/8120427 US : U.S.: Nymex
Volume: 2,299
Dec. 13, 2012 1:04p
/quotes/zigman/8702805 US : NYMEX Consolidated
Volume: 2,022
Jan. 10, 2013 7:12a
Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter based in London. Follow her on Twitter @sarasjolin.
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