Gold Price News: Gold Eases Lower, Finds Support Below $2,290

Gold prices eased lower on Thursday, giving up the previous day’s gains, although prices came back up off the lows to finish down around 0.7% day-on-day.

Prices fell as low as $2,286 an ounce before climbing back to around $2,304 an ounce later in the day. That compared with around $2,322 an ounce in late deals on Wednesday.

Gold prices underwent successive moves lower this week as prices pulled back from highs of over $2,400 an ounce seen in mid-April.

US initial jobless claims figures released Thursday came in at 208,000 in the week to April 27, showing only a slight reduction against forecasts of 212,000. Meanwhile, US factory orders for March rose by 1.6% from February levels, in line with market expectations.

The figures provided little convincing momentum in either direction, leaving gold to find tentative support at around the $2,290 an ounce level.

The US dollar fell against other major currencies through the afternoon after an earlier push higher, and this may have helped gold to climb back up off the lows on Thursday afternoon. Yields on US 10-year treasuries also fell later in the day, providing a supportive element for gold.

That said, gold continues to fight a headwind now that markets are broadly expecting US interest rates to stay on hold at least until the autumn, reducing the appeal of assets that don’t earn a yield.

Looking ahead, the markets will be watching out for Friday’s US non-farm payrolls, unemployment rate and ISM Services PMI figures, all of which relate to April, for the latest health check on the US economy.