Gold News & Info

Source: MarketWatch

New York— Gold futures fell more than 1% Thursday as fresh jobs data fueled hopes that the U.S. economy is stabilizing and as deflation worries reduced gold's attractiveness as a hedge against rising prices. Dampening gold's safe-haven appeal, the Labor Department reported early Thursday first-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level since the end of January in the latest week. Meanwhile, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. reported better-than-expected earnings results. "There is a knee-jerk reaction to the earnings news and jobs data that are stripping gold of the safe-haven bid," said Brian Kelly, chief executive officer of Kanundrum Research, a commodities and macroeconomic research firm.

Gold for June delivery ended down $13.70, or 1.5%, at $879.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, ending below $880 for the first time since April 6. Gold investors also closely watched for signs of deflation, as the metal is seen as a hedge against rising prices. In gold trading, it's "almost a tug of war between buyers and sellers, inflation or deflation believers," said George Gero, a precious-metals trader for RBC Capital Markets. See full story.