Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose on Thursday as the U.S. dollar weakened.
The most active gold contract for February delivery rose 17.2 U.S. dollars, or 1.51 percent, to settle at 1,158.10 dollars per ounce.
Gold was given extensive support as the U.S. Dollar Index fell by 0.52 percent to 102.68 as of 18:30 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.
The international trade in goods report released by the U.S. Department of Commerce on Thursday showed the trade deficit increasing to a worse-than-expected negative 65.3 billion U.S. dollars, with exports decreasing by 1 percent, and imports increasing by 1.2 percent.
Analysts note that this report likely put pressure on the U.S. dollar which in turn influenced gold. Gold was put under a slight amount of pressure as a report released by the U.S. Department of Labor showed weekly jobless claims decreasing by 10,000 to a 265,000 level during the week of December 24th, a figure which analysts note was within expectations after the previous week's report showed worse-than-expected claims.
Trading activity and news releases remains at lower as most of the U.S. remains in the week between Christmas and New Years.
Traders are looking to next week for another shortened trading week with the markets closed on Monday, then release of the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index on Tuesday, weekly jobless claims on Thursday.
Silver for March delivery added 18 cents, or 1.12 percent, to close at 16.218 dollars per ounce. Platinum for April delivery rose 0.2 dollars, or 0.02 percent, to close at 902.40 dollars per ounce.
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