Gold up slightly after tax plan details released

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose on Thursday as traders examined the details of U.S. President Donald Trump's tax plan.

The most active gold contract for June delivery rose 1.7 U.S. dollars, or 0.13 percent, to settle at 1,265.90 dollars per ounce.

The details of U.S. President Donald Trump's tax plan were released after the gold market's close on Wednesday and analysts believe the market spent most of the day digesting its details during Thursday's trading session. This digestion gave support to the precious metal.

Gold was given additional support as the U.S. Department of Labor released its weekly jobless claims report showing initial jobless claims rising by 14,000 during the week of April 22 to a 257,000 level.

This figure was worse than expected, but analysts note that it is an outlier in what has otherwise been a positive month for jobs.

A cap was kept on gold's gains as the U.S. Dollar Index rose by 0.12 percent to 99.10 as of 19:00 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.

Although the May FOMC meeting is due next week, investors believe the Fed may raise rates from 1.00 to 1.25 during the June FOMC meeting.

According to the CME Group's Fedwatch tool, the current implied probability of a hike from 1.00 to 1.25 is at 3 percent at the May meeting and 68 percent for the June meeting.

Silver for July delivery fell 9.7 cents, or 0.56 percent, to close at 17.334 dollars per ounce. Platinum for October delivery added 0.3 dollar, or 0.03 percent, to close at 948.80 dollars per ounce. Endit