Investing.com - Gold futures fell to the lowest levels of the session on Thursday, after data showed that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell to the lowest level since February 2006.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for August delivery fell to a session low of $1,295.30 a troy ounce, the weakest level since July 16, before trimming losses to last trade at $1,296.70 during U.S. morning hours, down 0.61%, or $7.90.
Gold ended Wednesday’s session down 0.12%, or $1.60, to settle at $1,304.70 an ounce. Futures were likely to find support at $1,293.50, the low from July 16 and resistance at $1,311.80, the high from July 23.
Also on the Comex, silver for September delivery declined 0.51%, or 10.7 cents, to trade at $20.88 a troy ounce.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending July 19 declined by 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 284,000 from the previous week’s total of 303,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 5,000 to 308,000 last week.
The upbeat data added to speculation that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates sooner than expected.
Meanwhile, traders awaited new developments from Ukraine and the Middle East.
Pro-Russian rebels shot down two Ukrainian fighter jets on Wednesday, not far from where the Malaysian Airlines passenger plane was brought down in eastern Ukraine late last week.
In Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that efforts to secure a truce between Israel and Hamas had made some progress.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for September delivery rallied 1.37%, or 4.4 cents, to trade at $3.251 a pound, as investors cheered better than expected manufacturing data out of China, the world’s largest consumer of the red metal.
Data released earlier showed that China’s HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers Index rose to an 18-month high of 52.0 in July from a final reading of 50.7 in June. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 51.0 this month.
Copper traders consider shifts in the HSBC PMI an indicator of China's copper demand, as the industrial metal is widely used by the sector.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.