Gold Ends Firmer On Short Covering; U.S. Jobs Report On Deck

(Kitco News) - Comex gold futures prices ended a choppy, two-sided trading session with modest gains Thursday. A corrective, short-covering bounce was featured after this week's selling pressure. Traders are awaiting Friday morning's all-important U.S. jobs report for direction. February gold was last up $2.30 at $1,227.80 an ounce. Spot gold was last quoted up $2.80 at $1229.25. March Comex silver last traded up $0.076 at $19.61 an ounce.