Gold prices drifted lower on Thursday as the dollar rose against most of its major counterparts.
The dollar index climbed to 102.15, gaining nearly 0.7%.
Gold futures for June ended lower by $16.60 at $2,020.50 an ounce, after climbing to a high of $2,047.60 earlier in the session.
Silver and copper prices tumbled after data showed China’s consumer prices rose at the slowest pace in more than two years in April. According to the data, producer deflation deepened last month, highlighting the broader economy‘s struggles to rev-up after the lifting of COVID curbs in December.
Silver futures for July ended down $1.234 or about 4.8% at $24.424 , suffering the biggest single-session loss in about three months.
Copper futures for July settled at $3.7100 per pound, down $0.1310 or about 3.4% from the previous close.
Data released by the Labor Department this morning showed initial jobless claims climbed to their highest level in well over a year in the week ended May 6th.
The report said initial jobless claims rose to 264,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 242,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 245,000.
With the much bigger than expected advance, jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting a matching number in the week ended October 30, 2021.
A separate Labor Department showed a continued slowdown in the annual rate of producer price growth in April, although some traders worry the slowdown is partly due to the U.S. heading for a recession.
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