Gold Futures Settle Modestly Higher As Dollar Turns Weak

Gold prices moved higher on Thursday, recovering from an over 3-week low recorded in the previous session, as the dollar eased a bit against other major currencies.

The dollar index tumbled to 112.17 around late morning before recovering to 112.83, down 0.13% from the previous close.

Gold futures for December ended higher by $2.60 or about 0.2% at $1,636.80 an ounce.

Silver futures for December ended up $0.330 at $18.689 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $3.4105 per pound, gaining $0.0925 for the session.

In U.S. economic news today, a report from the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims slipped to 214,000 in the week ended October 15th, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 226,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 230,000 from the 228,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released a report showing a continued contraction in regional manufacturing activity in the month of October. The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current activity inched up to a negative 8.7 in October from a negative 9.9 in September, but a negative reading still indicates a contraction. Economists had expected the index to climb to a negative 5.0.

A report from the Conference Board showed its leading economic index fell by 0.4% in September after revised data showed the index was unchanged in August. Economists had expected the leading economic index to dip by 0.3%, matching the drop originally reported for the previous month.

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