Gold rose 1 percent on Thursday, snapping three consecutive days of losses on a dollar drop and technical purchases, but heavy put buying and disappointment over Federal Reserve easing could still pressure the metal. Gold followed riskier assets, with the S&P 500 stock index ending above 1,400 for the first time in four years after a strong run of US job and manufacturing data confirmed a decent pace of economic recovery.
The metal's nearly 5 percent or $80 per ounce slide over the previous three days has removed a premium based on expectations of further US monetary easing. The Fed offered few clues this week on any further action after it said in late January it would keep rates near zero for the next few years.
Spot gold was up 1.1 percent at $1,659.56 an ounce by 3:05 pm. In other precious metals, silver was up 1.4 percent on the day at $32.56 an ounce. Platinum rose 0.6 percent to $1,680.24 an ounce, pushing the premium to gold to more than $20 an ounce. Palladium was up 1 percent at $702.01 an ounce.