September 11, 2009
Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange declined slightly on Thursday, rebounding from one-week low as the dollar weakened. Silver ended higher, but platinum inched down.
Gold price for December delivery fell 30 cents, or 0.03 percent, to finish at 996.80 U.S. dollars an ounce. In overnight electronic session, the contract dipped as low as 983.20 dollars, the weakest level since last Wednesday.
Dollar was still weak despite a four-day plunge, especially after the trade data. The Commerce Department said on Thursday that the U.S. trade deficit rose 16.3 percent, the largest percentage increase in more than a decade, to 32 billion dollars in July, much larger than the 27.4 billion dollars imbalance that economists had expected.
Dollar's weakness pulled the precious metal out of its intraday low and removed most of the earlier losses.
The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to a seasonally adjusted 550,000 from an upwardly revised 576,000 in the previous week.
On the jobs front, the Labor Department reported that initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to a seasonally adjusted 550,000 from an upwardly revised 576,000 in the previous week, lower than economists' expectations of 560,000.
Improvements in labor market provided more evidence that the economy is right on the way to recovery, weighing on gold as the yellow metal's appeal as asset of safe-haven was reduced. December silver finished at 16.67 dollars per ounce, up 20 cents. October platinum fell 1.70 dollars to 1289.70 dollars an ounce.