Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold futures ended lower Thursday as portfolio rebalancing kept its grip on the market and attempts at gains were shortlived. Gold for February delivery declined $2, or 0.2%, to $1,371.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal at time briefly traded in the black, but ultimately the prevailing force was still rebalancing � large funds shifting away from gold as managers reorganize their holdings at the beginning of the year.

�We still got a little bit of [repositioning] going on, just a little profit-taking,� said James Moore, a London-based analyst with TheBullionDesk.com. Gold had pared losses early Thursday following a government report that showed the number of first-time claims for jobless benefits totaled 409,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis in the final week of 2010, up 18,000 from the previous week. See full story.