* ECB expected to expand asset purchases, pressures euro
* Coming up: ECB interest rate announcement at 1245 GMT
By Manolo Serapio Jr
MANILA, March 10 (Reuters) - Gold steadied on Thursday below
last week's 13-month high as Asian stocks and the dollar
advanced on expectations of more stimulus from the European
Central Bank to bolster economies in the euro zone.
The euro was under pressure, with the ECB expected to cut
the deposit rate, announce more asset purchases and possibly
introduce tiered interest rates like the Bank of Japan in a bid
to boost inflation, according to a Reuters poll.
Spot gold XAU= was off 0.2 percent at $1,250 an ounce by
0134 GMT, pulling further away from a 13-month peak of $1,279.60
reached on March 4.
U.S. gold for April delivery GCcv1 dropped 0.5 percent to
$1,250.80.
"We are not overly concerned about the pullback we saw in
the past two days, as we think gold's uptrend remains intact as
long as the metal closes above $1,246," technical analysts at
ScotiaMocatta wrote.
"In our view, gold will likely consolidate here before
taking a swing at $1,307," a level last seen in January 2015,
they said.
Gold had benefitted from low expectations that the U.S.
Federal Reserve would lift interest rates at its policy meeting
next week despite a recent raft of robust economic data
including last week's forecast-beating employment report.
Headwinds in the global economy are likely to deter U.S.
policymakers from raising interest rates soon after hiking them
in December as central banks elsewhere ease policy to boost
their shaky economies, analysts say.
Asian stocks edged up after New Zealand surprised markets
with a rate cut, keeping investors primed for more stimulus from
the ECB later in the day. MKTS/GLOB
Spot silver XAG= slipped 0.2 percent to $15.26 an ounce,
platinum XPT= dropped 0.6 percent to $972.25 and palladium
XPD= eased 0.5 percent to $560.50.