Gold Ends Higher As Dollar Weakens

(RTTNews) - Gold futures snapped a five-day loss to end higher on Thursday, with continued focus on the Federal Reserve policy meet next week as the uncertainty over an interest rate hike persists. Gold prices found additional support with the dollar weakening against a basket of some major currencies.

While a September rate hike might be coin toss, it is widely anticipated that policy makers will tighten sometime before the year end. With the dollar strengthening and risk appetite picking up, gold dropped near $1100 in the previous session.

In economic news from the U.S., a Labor Department report on Thursday showed jobless claims to have pulled back in line with estimates in the week ended September 6, after reporting a bigger than expected increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the previous week.

A Labor Department report on Thursday showed U.S. import prices fell more than expected in August, with fuel prices showing another substantial decrease.

Wholesale inventories in the U.S. unexpectedly saw a modest decrease in July, a report from the Commerce Department showed Thursday.

China's inflation accelerated in August on soaring food prices, while producer prices fell at the fastest pace since late 2009 largely due to easing commodity prices.

Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $7.30 or 0.7 percent, to settle at $1,109.30 an ounce, on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday.

Gold for December delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,114.10 and a low of $1,102.50 an ounce.

On Wednesday, gold prices for December delivery plunged $19.00 or 1.7 percent, to settle at $1,102.00 an ounce, as investors turned to the riskier equity assets as global stocks rebounded and the dollar trended higher against some major currencies.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, declined to 672.18 tons from its previous close of 682.35 tons.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 95.49 on Thursday, down from its previous close of 95.94 in late North American trade on Wednesday. The dollar scaled a high of 96.20 intraday and a low of 95.40.

The euro trended higher against the dollar at 1.1282 on Thursday, as compared to its previous close of 1.1208 in North American trade late Wednesday. The euro scaled a high of 1.1297 intraday and a low of 1.1174.

On the economic front, a Labor Department report on Thursday showed jobless claims to have pulled back in the week ended September 6, with initial jobless claims dropping to 275,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 281,000. Economists expected jobless claims to dip to 275,000 from the 282,000 originally reported for the prior week.

Import prices in the U.S. tumbled by 1.8 percent in August following an unrevised 0.9 percent decrease in July. Economists expected import prices to drop by 1.6 percent. The report also showed a steep drop in export prices, which slumped by 1.4 percent in August after falling by a revised 0.4 percent in July. Export prices had been expected to edge down by about 0.4 percent compared to the 0.2 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.

Wholesale inventories in the U.S. edged down by 0.1 percent in July following a downwardly revised 0.7 percent increase in June. Economists expected inventories to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.9 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

China's inflation rose to a 12-month high of 2 percent in August from 1.6 percent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics reported Thursday. It was expected to rise to 1.8 percent. Producer prices declined at a faster pace of 5.9 percent annually, following a 5.4 percent drop in July. This was the weakest rate since late 2009 and marked 42 consecutive months of declines.

Core machine orders in Japan slid 3.6 percent on month in July, the Cabinet Office said on Thursday - worth 805.6 billion yen. The headline figure was well shy of forecasts for an increase of 3.3 percent following the 7.9 percent contraction in June.

French industrial production declined unexpectedly in July, data from the statistical office Insee revealed Thursday. Industrial production slid 0.8 percent in July from June, when it remained flat. It was expected to grow 0.2 percent.

France's non-farm payroll employment increased in the three months ended June after staying flat in the previous quarter, figures from the statistical office INSEE showed Thursday. Payroll employment in the principally market sectors, which include the manufacturing, construction and service sectors, rose 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter, after showing no variations in the preceding quarter.

U.K. house prices logged its biggest monthly increase in 15 months, data from Lloyds Banking Group's Halifax division revealed Thursday. House prices advanced 2.7 percent in August from July, which was the fastest increase since May 2014. Economists had forecast prices to climb 0.5 percent after falling 0.4 percent in July.

House prices in the United Kingdom spiked in August, the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed on Thursday as its house price balance surged to 53 percent. That topped forecasts for an increase of 46 percent and was up sharply from 44 percent in July.