Investing.com - Gold prices fell to the lowest levels of the session on Thursday, following the release of disappointing U.S. jobless claims data and as investors digested comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for June delivery traded at $1,285.40 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours, down 0.42%, or $5.40.
Gold fell to a session low of $1,281.90 an ounce earlier. Futures rallied 0.84%, or $10.80 an ounce, on Wednesday to settle at $1,290.80.
Gold futures were likely to find support at $1,277.40 a troy ounce, the low from April 1 and resistance at $1,299.30, the high from March 31.
Meanwhile, silver for May delivery tumbled 1.17%, or 23.5 cents, to trade at $19.81 a troy ounce. Silver ended Wednesday’s session up 1.84%, or 36.2 cents, to settle at $20.05 an ounce.
The U.S. Department of Labor said earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits increased by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 326,000 last week from the previous week’s revised total of 310,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 7,000 to 317,000 last week.
A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit widened to a seasonally adjusted $42.3 billion in February from a deficit of $39.28 billion in January. U.S. exports fell 1.1% to $190.43 billion, while imports rose 0.4% to $232.73 billion.
Market players now looked ahead to Friday’s highly-anticipated nonfarm payrolls report for March for further indications on the strength of the economy and the future course of monetary policy.
Gold has been under heavy selling pressure in recent weeks as upbeat U.S. economic data underlined expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin to raise rates sooner than previously thought.
Meanwhile, in the euro zone, the ECB held its benchmark interest rate at a record low 0.25%, in line with expectations.
Speaking at the ECB’s post-policy meeting press conference, Draghi said that quantitative easing, or QE, was discussed as part of an “ample” and “rich” discussion by the Governing Council.
Draghi also says the exchange rate is an increasingly important reference point for policy makers.
Elsewhere on the Comex, copper for May delivery slumped 0.4%, or 1.2 cents, to trade at $3.033 a pound after China unveiled a mini-stimulus package, disappointing market expectations for more drastic measures.
China's State Council said Wednesday that it will increase spending on railways and housing, as policymakers attempt to boost slowing growth in Asia’s largest economy.
However, the announcement disappointed market participants, who had expected more stimulus in the form of looser monetary policy, such as a cut in bank reserve requirements.
Mixed data on China’s services sector also weighed. HSBC’s China services Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 51.9 last month from 51.0 in February, but the official nonmanufacturing PMI fell to 54.5 in March from 55.0 in the previous month.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.