Commodity Tips: Gold futures logged modest gains in the national market on Thursday as investors and speculators booked fresh positions in the precious metal as a weaker growth outlook in the 19-member Euro area economy buoyed bets of a further stimulus firepower from the European Central Bank (ECB), bolstering the appeal of Gold, a hedge against the inflationary risk of monetary stimulus.

Mario Draghi, the ECB President said that the Frankfurt-based central bank will consider how to step up its stimulus program if it feels that the monetary easing measures it has undertaken thus far are inadequate to help the region’s economy return to price stability and solid growth. The EU on Thursday cut the economic growth estimate for the Euro area to 1.8 per cent in 2016 from an earlier 1.9 per cent amidst a global slowdown.

However, the gains in the yellow metal were curbed by renewed worries over a US rate hike in December which curbed the appeal of Gold as a store of value while bolstering the dollar, Gold’s nemesis. A stronger dollar makes Gold more expensive for those holding other currencies, thus dimming Gold’s demand as an alternative asset.

Traders awaited the US jobs data set for release later on Friday which will offer cues over the health of the labour market in the world’s biggest economy, and perhaps dictate whether the US Fed Reserve will raise interest rates in December. American employers probably added 180,000 jobs in October, up from 142,000 in September, analysts’ surveys showed.

A pickup in job growth would lay the ground for policy tightening next month, with most officials from the US Federal Reserve stressing this week that the case for a rate lift-off is very much data dependent. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President said that continued improvement in the US economy may necessitate a rate hike “soon”.

Gold may trade on a cautious note today ahead of US jobs data.

At the MCX, Gold futures for December 2015 contract closed at Rs 25,841 per 10 gram, up by 0.27% after opening at Rs 25,819, against the previous closing price of Rs 25,771. It touched the intra-day high of Rs 25,922.