1st LD Writethru: Gold down as Greece makes payment

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Thursday as Greece made a scheduled payment to the International Monetary Fund.

The most active gold contract for June delivery fell 9.5 U.S. dollars, or 0.79 percent, to settle at 1,193.60 dollars per ounce.

After much speculation, gold was put under pressure as Greece has made an important payment of 460 million euros on its debt to the IMF, according to the Greek finance ministry. Analysts say investors had previously worried that Greece may not have had enough cash on hand to make the payment.

Gold was put under additional pressure as the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, continued to hint at a possible rate increase, despite lackluster data. The minutes from the previous Fed meeting were released after the market closed Wednesday, and New York Fed President William Dudley and Fed Governor Jerome Powell released a statement indicating that there could be a possible rate increase sooner than investors expect.

Analysts believe the current market for gold is bearish due to the expectations for an eventual increase in the Fed's interest rate.

Gold was given a very slight amount of pressure by the jobless claims report released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday morning. The report showed initial jobless claims increasing by 14, 000 to 281,000, but the report also revised the numbers down by 21, 000 in the prior week, which analysts say was better-than-expected.

Silver for May delivery fell 27.8 cents, or 1.69 percent, to close at 16.176 dollars per ounce. Platinum for July delivery fell 9.3 dollars, or 0.80 percent, to close at 1,157.00 dollars per ounce. Endite