WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold futures settled higher on Thursday, gaining some ground after four successive days of losses.
A somewhat subdued dollar supported the yellow metal. The dollar index, which dropped to 102.72 in early New York session, climbed to 103.18 about an hour past noon before easing to 102.98.
Gold futures for October ended higher by $14.60 or about 0.56% at $2,620.60 an ounce.
Silver futures for October settled at $31.005 an ounce, gaining $0.585 or about 1.9%, while Copper futures for October climbed to $4.3995 per pound, gaining $0.0445 or 1.02%.
Data from the Labor Department showed the consumer price index rose by 0.2% in September, matching the increase seen in August. Economists had expected consumer prices to inch up by 0.1%.
The report also said core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, climbed by 0.3% for the second consecutive month. Core prices were expected to rise by 0.2%.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the annual rate of consumer price growth slowed to 2.4% in September from 2.5% in August. Economists had expected the pace of price growth to slow to 2.3%.
The annual rate of core consumer price growth accelerated to 3.3% in September from 3.2% in August, while economists had expected the pace of growth to remain unchanged.
The bigger than expected increase by consumer prices has further offset optimism the Federal Reserve will continue to aggressively lower interest rates in the coming months.
CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 88.4% chance the Fed will lower rates by 25 basis points next month after slashing rates by 50 basis points last month.
'Disinflation continues, but anyone who thought the Fed was going to lower rates by another .50 basis points in November is dead wrong,' said Jamie Cox, Managing Partner, Harris Financial Group. 'When interest rates aren't high enough to lower growth, they aren't high enough to stifle inflation completely either,' he added. 'The Fed will lower rates, but at a measured pace from here.'
A separate Labor Department report showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits increased by much more than expected in the week ended October 5th, climbing to 258,000, an increase of 33,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 225,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge up to 230,000.
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