Investing.com - Gold prices fell to six-week lows on Thursday, as hopes that Friday's U.S. jobs report will come in solid chipped away at the precious metal's safe-haven appeal.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at 1,284.20 a troy ounce during U.S. trading, down 0.98%, up from a session low of $1,282.10 and off a high of $1,298.60.
The December contract settled down 0.28% at $1,296.90 on Wednesday.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,258.00 a troy ounce, the low from June 17, and resistance at $1,314.60, Monday's high.
The Labor Department on Friday will release its July nonfarm payrolls report, and consensus forecasts see the U.S. economy picking up 233,000 new jobs.
Even if the figure comes in below that number, a reading over 200,000 would represent six straight months of beating that threshold, a sign the labor market is improving even if it's still a little slack.
Earlier Thursday, the Labor Department reported that the number of individuals filing for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose by 23,000 to 302,000 from the previous week’s total of 279,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 22,000 to 301,000.
The Labor Department added that the employment cost index rose by 0.7% in the three months to June after a 0.3% increase in the first quarter. Economists had expected a 0.5% gain.
Gold continued to slide as the dollar continued to see support from Thursday's upbeat U.S. gross domestic product report.
The U.S. GDP expanded at an annual rate of 4.0% in the three months to June, blowing past forecasts for a 3.0% reading, according to the Commerce Department. The contraction in the first quarter was revised to 2.1% from a previously reported 2.9%.
Personal consumption grew 2.5%, well above predictions of 1.9%.
Upbeat U.S. indicators have bolstered the U.S. dollar in recent sessions, thus curbing for gold, a traditional safe-haven hedge against weakening paper currencies.
Meanwhile, silver for September delivery was down 0.87% at $20.418 a troy ounce, while copper futures for September delivery were up 0.28% at $3.232 a pound.