WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Despite a weak dollar and lower bond yields, gold futures settled slightly weak on Thursday as investors continued to assess the likely interest rate path of the Federal Reserve after recent economic data.
The Federal Reserve left its interest rate unchanged on Wednesday and Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the next rate move from the central bank will most likely be an interest rate reduction.
Gold futures for May ended down $0.70 at $2,299.20 an ounce.
Silver futures for May settled at $26.583 an ounce, gaining $0.094 or 0.35%.
A report from the Labor Department showed unit labor costs soared by 4.7% in the first quarter following a revised unchanged reading in the fourth quarter. Economists had expected labor costs to shoot up by 3.2% compared to the 0.4% increase that had been reported for the previous quarter.
'Productivity growth wasn't strong enough to significantly mitigate the rise in wages last quarter,' said Nationwide Financial Markets Economist Oren Klachkin. 'The strong rise in unit labor costs is another in a string of recent data points indicating that inflation pressures remain relatively high.'
A separate Labor Department showed initial jobless claims came in unchanged last week, while a Commerce Department report showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed slightly in March.
The report said initial jobless claims came in 208,000, unchanged from the previous week's upwardly revised level. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 212,000 from the 207,000 originally reported for the previous week.
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