Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

New York— old futures Thursday continued to shy away from the $1,000-an-ounce level reached earlier this week, as data showing fewer U.S. weekly jobless claims reduced its safe-haven appeal. The Labor Department's report came in slightly better than expected: The number of people filing for initial unemployment benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 550,000 last week, the lowest since mid-July. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected claims to stand at 558,000. Cushioning gold's losses, the U.S. dollar gave ground against most rival currencies. The dollar index /quotes/comstock/11j!i:dxy0 (DXY 76.81, -0.28, -0.37%) fell 0.4% to 76.757. December gold futures, the most actively traded contract, edged down 30 cents to end at $996.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The thinly traded September gold futures ended at $995.40 an ounce

"Despite the U.S. dollar falling further, gold traded lower as profit taking emerged," said James Moore, analyst at TheBullionDesk.com. Moore predicted that gold will "make further tests higher in the coming sessions as increasingly bearish dollar sentiment prompts diversification toward commodities, equities and better-yielding currencies." See full story.