Gold arrests slide, probes upside after ECB rate decision

New York (May 8)  Gold edged back above $1,290 an ounce on Thursday as a softer dollar and renewed tensions in Ukraine helped arrest the previous day's 1 percent fall.

Traders also watched a news conference by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, after the central bank left interest rates unchanged.

Spot gold posted its biggest daily fall since April 15 on Wednesday as traders, frustrated by its failure to break above $1,315 an ounce, took Russian President Vladimir Putin's assertion that he was willing to negotiate over the Ukraine crisis as a signal to sell.

Putin's announcement that he was pulling Russian troops back from the Ukrainian border and his call on pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine to postpone a vote on pulled prices back from the three-week highs at $1,315.60 they hit earlier this week.

Yet prices crept higher, however, after separatists in Ukraine voted unanimously on Thursday in favor of holding a referendum on independence anyway.

Spot gold was near $1,288 an ounce, little changed from Wednesday, while U.S. gold futures for June delivery were up $1.20 an ounce at $1,290.10.

European stocks rose on Thursday, lifted by reassuring corporate results and better-than-expected Chinese trade figures. The dollar index edged down 0.1 percent.