Gold gave up early gains on Thursday but held steady near its highest level in two weeks due to bargain hunting before a long Easter holiday break. Thai jewellers were active but physical dealers noted light selling by Gold hit an intraday high of $1,115.10 an ounce, not far from Wednesday's near two-week peak of $1,117.90, before easing as the euro shed some gains and also after the release of China's PMI data ignited some concerns about a monetary tightening.
By 0544 GMT, spot gold was at $1,113.00 an ounce, barely moved from New York's notional close on Wednesday. US gold futures for June delivery fell $1.1 an ounce to $1,113.2 ounce. It ended 1 percent higher on Wednesday as the dollar slipped against the euro after an ADP report showed a surprising decline in US private sector jobs in March.
Silver and platinum held near Wednesday's high, while palladium was within sight of its strongest level in two years. Palladium and platinum prices began to rally after ETF Securities Ltd launched the first US PGM exchange traded funds in early January, which now have about 900,000 ounces of the combined metals.