Gold rises as dollar turns lower
Gold futures rose on Thursday, as investors anticipate the release of key US data, while the US dollar fell against most of its peers.
US Labor Department will reveal the number of initial unemployment claims for last week, after its fell to its lowest level since the start of the pandemic.
ADB data showed today that the US private sector added 742K new jobs in April, the largest monthly rise since September, missing forecasts of 872K.
The data comes two days ahead of the US Labor Department's monthly jobs report for April next Friday, which provides key insight on the US labor market.
The dollar index fell against a basket of currencies by 0.3% 91.03 points as of 11:15 GMT, after it hit a high of 91.3 points and a low of 91.00 points.
Gold June futures rose 0.9.6% or $9.6 to $1,793.9 an ounce as of 11:52 GMT, with a day high of $1,795.9 and a low of $1781.8.
US unemployment claims fall below 500,000 for first time since the pandemic
Data showed today that the US labor market continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic impact, which is reflected in falling number of applications for unemployment benefits.
The US Department of Labor showed that the unemployment claims fell to 498,000 last week, dropping below 500,000 for the first time since the pandemic started, beating forecasts of 540,000.
Oil turns lower, Brent falls below $69
Oil prices fell on Thursday, and pared the early gains, despite the US dollar fall against most of its peers.
The US Energy Information Administration reported yesterday that crude inventories fell 8 million barrels to 485.1 million during the past week, while analysts forecast a drop by 3.9 million barrels.
While the American Petroleum Institute (API) revealed on Tuesday in preliminary data that the US crude inventories fell 7.7 million barrels during the same period.
Analysts projected that slowdown in oil rally and Brent failure to breach the $70 barrier are signs on the lingering concerns over the global demand, especially due to the spread of coronavirus in India.
The dollar index fell against a basket of currencies by 0.3% to 91.02 points as of 12:42 GMT, after it hit a high of 91.3 points and a low of 90.9 points.
As of 12:40 GMT, WTI crude June futures fell 0.7% to $65.1 a barrel, after hitting a high of $65.9 and a low of $64.9.
Brent July futures fell 0.6% to $68.5 a barrel, after hitting a high of $69.3 and a low of $68.3.
Dollar falls ahead of unemployment claims data
The US dollar fell against most of its peers on Thursday, as investors anticipate the release of key US jobs data.
US Labor Department will reveal the number of initial unemployment claims for last week, after its fell to its lowest level since the start of the pandemic.
ADB data showed today that the US private sector added 742K new jobs in April, the largest monthly rise since September, missing forecasts of 872K.
The data comes two days ahead of the US Labor Department's monthly jobs report for April next Friday, which provides key insight on the US labor market.
The dollar index fell against a basket of currencies by 0.3% 91.03 points as of 11:15 GMT, after it hit a high of 91.3 points and a low of 91.00 points.