WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices fell on Thursday as traders chose to take some profits after recent gains. A slightly stronger dollar weighed a bit on gold prices.
The dollar index, which fell to 106.35 in the Asian session, rallied to 106.96 later on in the day before paring some gains. The index was last seen at 106.81, up marginally from Wednesday's close.
Gold futures for December closed down $46.30 or about 1.7% at $2,687.50 an ounce.
Silver futures for December tumbled $1.3340 or 4.1% to $31.228 an ounce, while Copper futures for December dropped to $4.1945 per pound, losing $0.0195 or 0.46%.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to lower rates by 25 basis points at its Dec. 17-18 meeting. However, there is a bit of uncertainty about the outlook for rates beyond December.
Data from the Labor Department showed producer prices in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of November. The data said the producer price index for final demand climbed by 0.4% in November after rising by an upwardly revised 0.3% in October.
Economists had expected producer prices to inch up by 0.2% matching the uptick originally reported for the previous month.
The report also said the annual rate of producer price growth accelerated to 3% in November from an upwardly revised 2.6% in October. The annual rate of producer price growth was expected to rise to 2.6% from the 2.4% originally reported for the previous month.
First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased in the week ended December 7th, according to a report released by the Labor Department. The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 242,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week's revised level of 225,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 220,000 from the 224,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank lowered their interest rates by 25 basis points and 50 basis points, respectively.
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