On Thursday Brent crude oil dipped towards $48 a barrel and gold edged lower before an expected decision by the European Central Bank (ECB) to start buying bonds, as this move could push the dollar to new highs and put downward pressure on commodities.
The ECB's Executive Board has proposed a program that would allow it to buy 50 billion euros ($58 billion) of bonds a month starting in March, a euro zone source said. The expected stimulus program has pressured the euro and sent the dollar, seen as a safe haven, soaring.
Due to oversupply and a fall in global demand oil prices have already more than halved since June last year.
Brent crude futures traded at $48.75 a barrel by 0910 GMT, down 28 cents. U.S. crude was down 50 cents at $47.28, as Reuters reported.
Petromatrix oil analyst Olivier Jakob said oil markets were expecting ECB President Mario Draghi to announce the so-called "quantitative easing" policy, printing money to buy sovereign bonds, later on Thursday.
"The expectations are for quantitative easing but Draghi has failed to deliver so many times," he said.
In January oil prices have steadied near $50 a barrel and analysts say the long-term outlook is improving. In a formation known as a "contango", the price of oil to be delivered immediately is trading well below barrels for supply in the future.
Gold futures for February delivery dipped $7.60, or 0.59%, to trade at $1,286.10 a troy ounce during European morning hours on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. A day earlier, gold hit $1,307.00, the most since August 15, before settling at $1,293.70, down 50 cents, or 0.04%. Futures were likely to find support at $1,272.10, the low from January 20, and resistance at $1,316.50, the high from August 15.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for March delivery declined 16.5 cents, or 0.91%, to trade at $18.02 a troy ounce. The day before silver rallied to $18.50 an ounce, the highest level since September 19, before ending at $18.19, up 23.7 cents, or 1.32%.
