WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold lost some appeal on Thursday as investors chose riskier assets after data showed a bigger than expected increase in U.S. retail sales in the month of July and another drop in weekly jobless claims. Still, gold futures ended the session on a positive note, amid bets on an interest rate cut by the Fed in September.
A firm dollar and higher bond yields weighed on gold prices. The dollar index, which climbed to 103.23 after upbeat economic data, was last seen at 103.03, up nearly 0.5% from the previous close.
Gold futures for August ended up by $13.70 or about 0.56% at $2,453.10 an ounce.
Silver futures for August ended higher by $1.0880 or nearly 4% at $28.342 an ounce, while Copper futures for August climbed to $4.1360 per pound, gaining $0.1110.
Data from the Commerce Department showed retail sales jumped by 1% in July after edging down by a revised 0.2% in June. Economists had expected retail sales to rise by 0.3% compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.
Data from the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims fell to 227,000 in the week ended August 10th, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level of 234,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 235,000 from the 233,000 originally reported for the previous week.
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