Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,787.34 per ounce by 1146 GMT, after hitting its highest since Feb. 25 at $1,797.67. U.S. gold futures were down 0.3% at $1,787.30.
“We will see another shot at $1,800 as the sentiment has improved. We have not seen any further exchange traded fund outflows,” Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said.
“There’s also a perception that central banks are not going to do anything in changing the ultra-loose monetary policy … the effect of that is rising gold prices,” he added.
The ECB left its policy unchanged as expected on Thursday, keeping copious stimulus flowing even as it faces questions over how it might claw back support once the euro zone economy reopens.
Lagarde’s news conference is due at 1230 GMT and she is likely to argue that more time is needed before the economy recovers.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was pinned below 1.6%, reducing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. The dollar held near multi-week lows.
“There is slightly weaker physical demand (for gold) at these higher prices,” said Nicholas Frappell, global general manager at ABC Bullion.
Meanwhile, palladium eased 0.7% to $2,855.93 an ounce, having surged to an all-time high of $2,891.20 per ounce on Wednesday.
Many analysts expect a further run towards $3,000.
Higher palladium prices reflect the tight supply situation, Commerzbank’s Fritsch said, adding the market is set to show a sizeable supply deficit this year partly on account of the robust demand from the automotive industry.
Silver fell 0.7% to $26.38 per ounce and platinum
was down 0.8% at $1,204.16.
