Gold logs largest daily loss in 6 weeks

Gold prices fell on Thursday, as the US dollar held against most currencies, in addition to a rise in bond yields

The US Department of Labor showed that the unemployment claims fell to 207K during the past week, worse than forecasts of 199K, and worse than the previous reading of 200K.

The US jobs report will be released on Friday, which shows the state of the labor market and unemployment.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that the US services PMI slowed down to 62 points in December from 69.1 points in November, missing forecasts of 67 points.

The 10-year US Treasury bond yield rose to a 9-month high at 1.72%, following the Federal Reserve meeting minutes, which showed Federal Reserve officials are preparing to move quicker in raising interest rate than expected..

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by less than 0.1% to 96.2 points as of 19:38 GMT, after hitting a high of 96.3 points and a low of 96.04 points.

Gold spot prices fell 2% to $1788.4 an ounce, as of 19:38 GMT.