Gold futures on Thursday gave up some of the prior session's sizable advance as a better-than-expected reading on jobless claims dented haven demand for the precious metal and other safety investments. June gold GCM5, -0.51% fell $7.30, or 0.6%, to settle $1,200.90 an ounce on Comex. Prices ended little changed from last Friday, when the April gold contract settled at $1,199.80. May silver SIK5, -1.93% shed 35.8 cents, or 2.1%, for the session to end at $16.701 an ounce, after jumping 2.8% a day earlier. It is down more than 2% from last Friday. Weekly jobless claims drop below expectations. Plus, three stocks to watch. Photo: Getty "With the major markets set to be shut when non-farms is released Friday, [Wednesday's] ADP report took its place, helping drive short-covering in gold," said Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault. "Only a real surprise in the official [non-farm payrolls] will see any swings at the start of Asian trade Sunday night." On Wednesday, June gold reclaimed the $1,200 mark as a weaker dollar, tepid economic reports and a selloff in U.S. stocks SPX, +0.38% provided a boost. The dollar DXY, -0.68% weakened again on Thursday against its major rivals, but dollar-denominated gold still lost ground as data showed that U.S. weekly jobless claims fell to a postrecession low of 268,000. In other metals trading, May copper HGK5, -0.64% lost 1.5 cents, or 0.5%, to $2.734 a pound. July platinum PLN5, -0.75% fell $11.50, or 1%, to $1,154.50 an ounce, while June palladium PAM5, -0.01% lost $2.55, or 0.3% to $746.30 an ounce. Trading on Comex will remain closed on Friday for a U.S. holiday. Offering a bigger picture view on gold, Amaury Conti, director of research and strategy at Sendero Wealth Management, said that as the U.S. Federal Reserve "moves toward normalizing interest rates, any positive economic data in the U.S. will be supportive for a higher dollar," and that will be a "long-term headwind for sustainable gains in gold prices." On the other hand, "a policy error by any global central banks will generate some volatility, which could support gold prices in the short term," he said. Source: MarketWatch
