CHICAGO, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose on Thursday as U.S. dollar fell after President Donald Trump made comments about the U.S. dollar.
The most active gold contract for June delivery rose 10.4 U.S. dollars, or 0.81 percent, to settle at 1,288.50 dollars per ounce.
Gold was given extensive support after U.S. President Donald Trump said that he believed that the U.S. dollar was "too strong," driving down the price of the U.S. Dollar Index, which closed at a 100.18 level, after the gold market' s close on Wednesday.
Previous to his comments, the precious metal was up by only 0.02 percent to 100.73 as of 1815 GMT on Wednesday. As a result, much of Thursday' s trading session was focused on those comments and the U.S. Dollar' s gentle gains, but the gains made on Thursday did not bring the U.S. dollar back up to its level prior to Trump' s remarks.
The U.S. Dollar Index rose by 0.37 percent to 100.55 as of 1850 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.
Gold was given additional support as the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 59.17 points, or 0.29 percent as of 1854 GMT. Analysts note that when equities post losses, the precious metal usually goes up, as investors are looking for a safe haven, while the opposite is true when U.S. equities post gains.
The precious metal was given further support as another report released by the U.S. Department of Labor showed the producer price index decreasing by 0.1 percent, a figure which analysts note was worse-than-expected. Expectations were for the index to remain unchanged.
The weekly jobless claims report released on Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor prevented the previous metal from rising further as the results came in better-than-expected. Initial jobless claims fell by 1,000 to a 234,000 level, which beat even the most optimistic end of the consensus range. This put pressure on gold.
Silver for May delivery added 21 cents, or 1.15 percent, to close at 18.51 dollars per ounce. Platinum for July delivery rose 9.5 dollars, or 0.98 percent, to close at 977.40 dollars per ounce.
