Gold futures settled higher on Thursday, extending gains to a second straight day, as the dollar lost some ground and the yield on U.S. bonds dropped a bit.
Data showing an increase in U.S. initial jobless claims contributed as well to gold’s uptick. Investors were also weighing the impact of the massive infrastructure plan announced by President Joe Biden.
Biden on Wednesday outlined a $2.3 trillion plan to reengineer the nation’s infrastructure over the next eight years. “It’s a once-in-a-generation investment in America,” Biden said in a speech in Pittsburgh about his plan.
The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury Note dropped from around 1.7%. Meanwhile, the dollar index dropped to 92.88, losing about 0.4%.
Gold futures for June ended up $12.80 or about 0.8% at $1,728.40 an ounce. However, gold futures shed about 0.2% this week. Markets will remain closed tomorrow for Good Friday.
Silver futures for May ended higher by $0.416 or 1.7% at $24.948 an ounce, while Copper futures for May settled at $3.9905 per pound, down$0.0050 from previous clos.
Data from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rebounded from their lowest level in a year in the week ended March 27th. The report said initial jobless claims rose to 719,000, an increase of 61,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 658,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 680,000 from the 684,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A report from the Institute for Supply Management said the ISM Manufacturing PMI jumped to 64.7 in March from 60.8 in February. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 61.3.
With the much bigger than expected increase, the Manufacturing PMI reached its highest level since hitting 69.9 in December of 1983.
Source: Read Full Article