By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Gold futures came off earlier lows Thursday following a government report that showed 409,000 Americans filed first-time claims for jobless benefits, up 18,000 from the previous week.
After falling as low as $1,367.20 an ounce, gold for February delivery (GCG11 1,373, -0.80, -0.06%) lately traded at $1,371.80 an ounce, down $1.90.
Palladium for March delivery (PAH11 768.20, -7.10, -0.92%) lost $12.30, or 1.6% to $763 an ounce.
March silver (SIH11 2,933, +12.70, +0.44%) turned up by 10 cents to $29.29 an ounce.
Copper stayed down, about 0.4%.
Gold settled Wednesday at a three-week low after a U.S. report showed private employment jumped sharply last month.
The Labor Department reported an upturn in seasonally adjusted, initial jobless claims on a week-to-week basis, but the four-week trend in first-time filings remained pointed lower. See full MarketWatch story on first-time unemployment claims.
On Friday, the agency will release employment statistics for December. Nonfarm payrolls are one of the pieces of data followed most closely by traders looking for clues about the strength of the economic recovery.
