WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Despite the dollar's rebound, gold futures stayed firm enough for much of the day's session to end higher on Thursday, after snapping a four-session winning streak on Wednesday.
Although uncertainty about U.S. interest rates persisted, gold found safe-haven support due to persisting worries about geopolitical tensions.
The dollar index climbed to 106.15, gaining 0.18%.
Gold futures for April ended higher by $10.60 or about 0.45% at $2,382.30 an ounce, the second highest close ever.
Silver futures for April ended down $0.017 at $28.329 an ounce, while Copper futures climbed to $4.4265, gaining 0.0870 or more than 2%.
In addition to rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, reports about strong central bank purhcases aided gold's upmove.
After Fed Chair Jerome Powell's remarks that signaled possible delays in interest rate cuts by the central bank, traders now expect just one or two rate cuts this year, according to data from CME Group.
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said that inflation is higher than expected and the U.S. central bank should not lower interest rates in a hurry.
Geopolitical tensions persisted and there are fears that the conflict could worsen and spread beyond Gaza if Israel responds brutally to Iran.
According to The Times, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has clarified that 'their state will do everything necessary to defend itself.'
On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department's report showed initial jobless claims came in at 212,000 for the week ended April 13th, unchanged from the previous week's revised level. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 215,000 from the 211,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A separate report released by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve showed that its diffusion index for current general activity jumped to 15.5 in April from 3.2 in March. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 1.5.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing a sharp pullback by existing home sales in the U.S. in the month March.
NAR said existing home sales plunged by 4.3% to an annual rate of 4.19 million in March after surging by 9.5% to a rate of 4.38 million in February. Economists had expected existing home sales to slump to a rate of 4.20 million.
Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2024 AFX News
