NEW YORK, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Early gains in gold prices evaporated Thursday, despite the dollar index falling 1.08 percent.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold shed $12.30 per troy ounce to $1,373.50.
February delivery light, sweet crude oil prices also lost ground after making gains for three consecutive trading sessions. Crude oil lost 95 cents to $90.91 per barrel.
In gold trading, prices rose after the Labor Department said first-time unemployment benefit claims rose by 35,000 last week, turning investors away from equities to gold, which is considered safer. Equities wobbled throughout the day, closing lower on Wall Street, and gold lost its early edge.
The dollar dropped against the euro and the yen. The euro rose to $1.3362 from Wednesday's $1.3351. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 82.76 yen from Wednesday's 82.82 yen.
Against the Hong Kong dollar, the U.S. dollar fell to 7.773 HKD from 7.7736 HKD.
The dollar fell to 1,112 South Korean won from 1,112.47 won.
Against the Canadian dollar, the U.S. standard dropped to $0.9891 from $0.9892.