FX.co ★ Gold Futures Snap 3-day Winning Run, Settle Moderately Lower

Gold futures pared early gains and settled lower on Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak.

The dollar's recovery from lower levels, weighed on gold prices.

The dollar index dropped to a low of 102.64, but recovered to 103.12 as the day progressed, cutting its loss to less than 0.3%.

Gold futures for April ended lower by $12.20 or about 0.7% at $1,878.50 an ounce, falling from the day's high of $1,902.30 an ounce.

Silver futures for March ended down $0.277 at $22.143 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $4.0970 per pound, gaining $0.0615.

Data released by the Labor Department this morning showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rebounded by slightly more than expected in the week ended February 4th.

The data said initial jobless claims rose to 196,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 183,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 190,000.

The uptick came after jobless claims decreased in four out of the five previous weeks, falling to their lowest level since hitting 181,000 in the week ended April 23, 2022.

Edward Moya, Senior Market Analyst at OANDA says gold prices are lower as investors see a robust labor market that could complicate the disinflation process.

Moya is of the view that gold prices could be under pressure a little longer if the market starts to price some more quarter-point rate rises.