WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold futures settled higher on Thursday on safe-haven buying amid rising tensions in the Middle East. A firm dollar and higher bond yields limited the yellow metal's upside.
The dollar index climbed to 102.10 before easing to 101.93, but still remained well above the flat line, gaining about 0.25%.
Gold futures for October ended up by $10.00 or nearly 0.4% at $2,657.10 an ounce.
Silver futures for October closed up $0.561 or about 1.77% at $32.189 an ounce, while Copper futures for October dropped to $4.4945 per pound, down $0.1015 or about 2.2% from the previous close.
Data from the Labor Department showed an uptick by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended September 28th. The report said initial jobless claims rose to 225,000 last week, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 219,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 220,000 from the 218,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A reading on U.S. service sector activity climbed by much more than expected in the month of September, reaching its highest level in well over a year, according to a report released by the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM said its services PMI shot up to 54.9 in September from 51.5 in August, with a reading above 50 indicating growth.
Meanwhile, a report released by the Commerce Department showed a modest pullback by new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the month of August. The report said factory orders dipped by 0.2% in August after surging by a slightly downwardly revised 4.9% in July. Economists had expected factory orders to rise by 0.2%.
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