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By Bloomberg

Gold climbed as investors assessed the outlook for interest rates before the European Central Bank announces details of its debt-purchase program.

Bullion for immediate delivery advanced as much as 0.5 percent to $1,206.03 an ounce and was at $1,204.14 by 1:49 p.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The precious metal is down 0.8 percent this week and fell to $1,195.50 on March 3, the lowest since Feb. 24.

Investors are assessing data for clues on when the Federal Reserve may raise benchmark rates from near zero. A purchasing managers index on services in the U.S. unexpectedly expanded at a faster pace in February, a report showed Wednesday when U.S. stocks fell for a second day. The ECB will leave its benchmark interest rate at a record low of 0.05 percent and the deposit rate at minus 0.2 percent when it meets in Nicosia, Cyprus, according to all economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

“The market is trying to second guess when rates are going to go up,” said David Lennox, a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney. While “strong PMI numbers should have given it a downside, the weak U.S. equity market should give it an upside,” he said by phone.

Gold for April delivery increased 0.2 percent to $1,203.50 an ounce on the Comex.

Silver for immediate delivery was little changed at $16.2554 an ounce. Spot palladium rose 0.5 percent to $831.50 an ounce and platinum climbed 0.4 percent to $1,186.75 an ounce.

To contact the reporter on this story: Phoebe Sedgman in Melbourne at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Poole at [email protected] Claudia Carpenter, Thomas Kutty Abraham