WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold futures settled higher on Thursday, extending gains to a third straight session, as worries about economic growth amid the ongoing trade war pushed up the demand for the safe-haven asset.
It is feared that U.S. President Trump' tariff policies could hit businesses and in turn impact the common consumers in a consumption-driven economy.
The tamer-than-expected U.S. CPI data released on Wednesday led to some optimism about the Federal Reserve resuming interest rate cuts in the near future.
A slightly stronger dollar limited the yellow metal's upside. The dollar index, which climbed to 104.08, pared some gains subsequently, but remained above the flat line at 103.75.
Gold futures for March closed up $0.45.20 or about 1.54% at $2,984.30 an ounce.
Silver futures for March settled at $34.051 an ounce, gaining $0.567 or about 1.69%, while Copper futures for March climbed to $4.9000 per pound, gaining $0.0790 or about 1.5%.
A report released by the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims edged down to 220,000 in the week ended March 8th, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level of 222,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 225,000 from the 221,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A separate report from the Labor Department said producer prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly flat in the month of February.
The report said the producer price index for final demand was unchanged in February after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.6% in January.
Economists had expected producer prices to rise by 0.3% compared to the 0.4% growth originally reported for the previous month.
The report also said the annual rate of growth by producer prices slowed to 3.2% in February from an upwardly revised 3.7% in January.
The annual rate of producer price growth was expected to dip to 3.3% from the 3.5% originally reported for the previous month.
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