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Gold edged up slightly on Thursday, with the U.S. dollar weaker as markets waited for clues on the future of the European Central Bank's asset purchase programme later in the day.

                           FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold had risen 0.2 % to $1,175.49 an ounce by 0043 GMT. It gained 0.4 % in the previous session.

* U.S. gold futures were nearly flat at $1,177 an ounce.

* The ECB will extend its already generous asset buys on Thursday, aiming to boost stubbornly weak price growth, but with much of its firepower exhausted it may also debate sending a token signal about the eventual end of such purchases.

* The euro held firm near a three-week high versus the dollar on Thursday, as investors turned their attention to the ECB meeting, and as the greenback was dragged down by a drop in U.S. bond yields.

* Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.72 % to 863.67 tonnes on Wednesday from Tuesday.