1st LD Writethru: Gold down as U.S. equities rebound

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Thursday as U.S. equities rebounded one day after a sharp fall.

The most active gold contract for February delivery fell 8 U.S. dollars, or 0.72 percent, to settle at 1,098.2 dollars per ounce.

After a volatile day of trading Wednesday, U.S. equities rebounded on Thursday, putting pressure on the precious metal. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 163 points, or 1.04 percent as of 17:45 GMT. Analysts note that when equities post losses, the precious metal usually goes up, as investors are looking for a safe haven, while the opposite is true when U.S. equities post gains.

The U.S. Department of Labor released its weekly jobless claims report Thursday, preventing gold from rising further as initial claims rose by 10,000 during the Jan.16 week to 293,000. Analysts note this figure was much higher-than-expected.

Gold was put under pressure as a report released Thursday by the Philadelphia branch of the Federal Reserve showed its Business Outlook Survey reading the General Business Conditions Index at a level of -3.5, which is better than expected. Analysts take this as a sign of strength after several reports showed weakness in the index.

The precious metal was prevented from falling further as the U.S. Dollar Index fell by 0.06 to 99.00 as of 18:00 GMT. The index is a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies. Gold and the dollar typically move in opposite directions, which means if the dollar goes up, gold futures will fall as gold, measured by the dollar, becomes more expensive for investors.

Silver for March delivery fell 6.6 cents, or 0.47 percent, to close at 14.094 dollars per ounce. Platinum for April delivery added 0.3 dollar, or 0.04 percent, to close at 819.50 dollars per ounce. Endite