Gold prices slipped lower on Friday, but still remained
close to a two-week high as the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy
meeting continued to weigh on the greenback.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange,
gold futures for December delivery were down 0.26% at $1,353.65, not far from
the two-week high of $1,355.75 hit overnight.
The December contract ended Thursday’s session 0.62% higher
at $1,357.20 an ounce.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,338.60,
Wednesday’s low and resistance at $1,360.80, the high from August 5.
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Gold slips lower but remains near 2-week high-Sap Forex24 |
The precious metal lost some ground after data on Thursday
showed that initial jobless claims decreased by 4,000 to 262,000 last week,
compared to expectations for a 1,000 decline to 265,000.
Separately, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said
that its manufacturing index rose to 2.0 this month from July’s reading of
minus 2.9, in line with the consensus estimate.
But sentiment on the greenback remained vulnerable after the
minutes of the Fed’s July policy meeting released on Wednesday showed that
policymakers were still divided over the need to raise interest rates this
year.
Gold is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates. A gradual path to
higher rates is seen as less of a threat to gold prices than a swift series of
increases.
Elsewhere in metals trading, silver futures for September
delivery dropped 0.52% at $19.638 a troy ounce, while copper futures for
September delivery rose 0.21% to $2.172 a pound.