Gold prices climbed on Thursday for a third session in a row, holding ground at their highest in nearly a month. Central banks "still appear to be the main focus of markets," and economic data seem significant "only if they can force the Fed to anticipate tapering," said Carlo Alberto De Casa, analyst at Kinesis Money. August gold rose $4, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,829 an ounce. That was the highest most-active contract price settlement since June 16, FactSet data show.