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1st LD Writethru: Gold up on weaker U.S. equities

Xinhua, February 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose on Thursday as U.S. equities fell again despite upbeat jobless data.

The most active gold contract for April delivery rose 14.9 U.S. dollars, or 1.23 percent, to settle at 1,226.30 dollars per ounce.

The U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 8 points, or 0.05 percent, as technical trading put pressure on U.S. equities.

The retreat in equities will dampen risk appetite of investors and drive them toward safe-haven assets, including gold, and the opposite is true when U.S. equities post gains, analysts noted.

Also on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims fell 7,000 to 262,000 during the week ending on Feb. 13. The better-than-expected figure put gold under some pressure.

Gold was given support as a report released by the Philadelphia branch of the U.S. Federal Reserve showed weakness in factory manufacturing. Analysts said that the general business conditions index fell to negative 2.8 which is a continued downtrend.

New orders, which were read at negative 5.3, and unfilled orders, at negative 12.7, are both worse-than-expected, analysts said.

Energy prices were holding steady on Thursday after Iran hinted that it would welcome an oil production freeze. The news has propped up the market as the U.S. energy sector has dragged down U.S. equities recently.

The precious metal was prevented from rising further as the U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies, rose by 0.08 to 96.94 as of 18:30 GMT.

Silver for March delivery added 5.5 cents, or 0.36 percent, to 15.432 dollars per ounce. Platinum for April delivery fell 4.1 dollars, or 0.43 percent, to 945.60 dollars per ounce. Enditem