* Gold pulls away from last week's 13-month high
* ECB expected to expand asset purchases, pressures euro
* Coming up: ECB interest rate announcement at 1245 GMT
(Updates prices)
By Manolo Serapio Jr
MANILA, March 10 (Reuters) - Gold fell for a third day on
Thursday, slipping further away from a 13-month high hit last
week, as Asian stocks and the U.S. dollar firmed on expectations
the European Central Bank will enact more stimulus to bolster
euro zone economies.
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= dropped 0.6 percent to $1,245.41 an ounce
by 0650 GMT, pulling away from a 13-month peak of $1,279.60
reached on March 4.
"Everyone's just waiting for the ECB meeting," said William
Wong, assistant head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals in
Hong Kong.
If the ECB disappoints yet again, as they did in December
when policymakers delivered less monetary easing than they had
suggested, Wong said that could revive the euro and send gold to
$1,280.
U.S. gold for April delivery GCcv1 fell 0.9 percent to
$1,246.70 per ounce.
"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 benefited 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
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund, recovered slightly to 25.49
million ounces on Wednesday, just below last week's 18-month
high. HLDSPDRGT=XAU
Spot silver XAG= eased 0.4 percent to $15.23 an ounce,
platinum XPT= dropped 0.8 percent to $969.74 and palladium
XPD= slid 1 percent to $557.75.