Mubasher: Gold prices inched up on Thursday as a retreat in equity markets and soft economic figures raised the alarm about the growth pace of the global economy, Reuters said.

However, the yellow metal’s gains were held in check by a firmer US dollar.

At 9:32 am GMT, spot gold ticked up 0.02% to $1,279.70 per ounce, while US gold futures edged up 0.11% to $1,277.10 per ounce.

By 9:33 am GMT, the US dollar index, a gauge for the greenback against key rivals, went up 0.02% to 98.1930.

Asian stock markets received a blow after data from Germany showed that business sentiment declined in April, as trade rows took a toll on the manufacturing sector of Europe’s biggest economy.

In the same vein, the South Korean economy surprisingly shrank in the first quarter of 2019, stoking worries about the global economy.

“Global growth data outside the US have been actually quite poor, we haven’t had anything to sink our teeth in,” SPI Asset Management trading and market strategy head Stephen Innes was quoted by Reuters.

It is worth noting that gold is often seen as a hedge at times of economic and financial anxieties.

Nevertheless, the outlook for gold remained bearish in the short range as it remained well below its 50-day and 100-day moving average. The yellow metal hit $1,265.90 per ounce earlier this week, its lowest level in four months.