Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose on Thursday as geopolitical instability drove investors to the precious metal for the fourth session in a row. The most active gold contract for February delivery rose 15.9 U. S. dollars, or 1.45 percent, to settle at 1,107.80 dollars per ounce.
Asian markets fell as they reacted to reports of an alleged test of a hydrogen bomb by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which spooked investors, as well as continued tension in the Middle East over Saudi Arabia's execution of a cleric, driving investors to gold as a safe haven.
U.S. equities also reacted to the fall in the Asian markets as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 2.08 percent on Thursday. Analysts note that when U.S. equities post losses, the precious metal usually goes up, as investors are looking for a safe haven. The precious metal was put under further pressure as the U.S. Dollar Index fell by 0.78 to 98.48 as of 1745 GMT. Gold and the dollar typically move in opposite directions. Gold was prevented from rising further as a report released by the U.S. Department of Labor showed initial jobless claims falling by 10,000 to 277,000 during the week of Jan. 2. Analysts note that this report was better than expected, and also revised figures from the previous week's report, to show a lower level of jobless claims.
Analysts say the long-term trend for gold remains strongly bearish as the first Federal Reserve interest rate hike came in December, despite expectations for a delay until 2016. Some analysts believe that the Fed may increase its key interest rate at the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in March. An increase in the Fed's interest rate drives investors away from gold and towards assets with a return, as the precious metal bears no interest. Until the December FOMC meeting there had not been an increase in the Fed's interest rate since June 2006, before the beginning of the American financial crisis.
Silver for March delivery rose 36.8 cents, or 2.63 percent, to close at 14.344 dollars per ounce. Platinum for April delivery added 2.5 dollars, or 0.29 percent, to close at 877.50 dollars per ounce.
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