WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices climbed higher on Thursday, rising for a third straight session, amid continued bets about an interest rate cut in September. A stronger dollar limited the yellow metal's upside.
The dollar index, which briefly dropped below the flat line around mid morning, recovered to 104.40, gaining about 0.3%.
Gold futures for August ended higher by $8.50 or about 0.35% at $2,435.00 an ounce.
Silver futures for August ended down $0.447 or about 1.55% at $28.331 an ounce, while Copper futures for August dropped to $4.0505 per pound, losing $0.1100.
After keeping the key interest rate unchanged at a 23-year high, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated on Wednesday that recent progress on inflation and cooling in the labor market could put the September rate cut on the table.
The Fed's next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for September 17-18, when investors widely expected the Fed to begin lowering interest rates. Almost three cuts are priced in by the year-end.
In economic news today, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted at an accelerated rate in the month of July.
The ISM said its manufacturing PMI fell to 46.8 in July from 48.5 in June, with a reading below 50 indicating contraction. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 48.8. With the bigger than expected decrease, the manufacturing PMI dropped to its lowest level since hitting 46.6 in November 2023.
The Labor Department's data showed initial jobless claims climbed to 249,000 in the week ended July 27th, an increase of 14,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 235,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 236,000.
Labor productivity in the U.S. shot up by more than expected in the second quarter, surging by 2.3%, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. Labor productivity increased by a revised 0.4% in the first quarter.
Economists had expected labor productivity to jump by 1.7% compared to the 0.2% uptick that had been reported for the previous quarter.
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