Investing.com - Gold prices were little changed in North American trade on Thursday, as weekly U.S. jobless claims data offered few clues on whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the coming months.
The number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits decreased by 1,000 to 266,000 last week, the Labor Department said. Analysts had expected jobless claims to drop by 4,000 from the initial read to 265,000 last week.
Market players are turning their attention Friday's highly anticipated U.S. retail sales report to further gauge if the world's largest economy is strong enough to withstand a rate hike by the end of the year.
Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange eased down 45 cents, or 0.03%, to trade at $1,351.50 a troy ounce by 12:50GMT, or 8:50AM ET.
A day earlier, gold tacked on $5.20, or 0.39%, as market players pushed back expectations for the next U.S. rate hike, weighing on the dollar.
Fed funds futures prices showed traders now see a 40% chance of a U.S. rate hike by December, according to CME Group's (NASDAQ:CME) Fed Watch tool. That compares with around 50% at the start of the week. September odds were at around 12% early on Thursday, down from 20% a few days ago.
Gold is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates. A gradual path to higher rates is seen as less of a threat to gold prices than a swift series of increases.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 95.70 in early trade, holding within sight of a near one-week low of 95.37 set on Wednesday.
The yellow metal flirted with a more than two-year high above the $1,370-level earlier this month before coming under pressure as last week's robust U.S. employment report revived speculation of a U.S. interest rate hike in the coming months. But those hopes were dashed following the release of unexpectedly weak nonfarm productivity data earlier this week.
Gold is up nearly 26% on the year so far, boosted by concerns over global growth and expectations of monetary stimulus.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for September delivery dipped 2.2 cents, or 0.11%, to trade at $20.14 a troy ounce during morning hours in New York, while copper futures gained 0.7 cents, or 0.32%, to $2.178 a pound.
China is set to release data on industrial production, fixed asset investments and retail sales on Friday.
Disappointing trade figures combined with softer inflation released earlier this week confirmed there was scope for further policy easing if needed.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for nearly 45% of world consumption.