The most active gold contract for August delivery fell 13.5 U.S. dollars, or 0.74 percent, to close at 1,800.3 dollars per ounce.
The ECB announced Thursday that it would leave its deposit rate at negative 0.5 percent and its refinancing rate at 0 percent. The central bank also said it would continue its asset purchase program at a monthly pace of 20 billion euros.
Gold was also under pressure as a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia put its manufacturing index at a reading of 24.1 in July, better than expected, and a report released by the U.S. Department of Commerce showed U.S. retail sales climbed 7.5 percent in June.
The weekly jobless claims report released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday showed the initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 1.3 million. Market analysts caution that although the report showed slight deterioration in the job market, further shutdowns due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the United States are likely, potentially resulting in more job losses, preventing gold from big fall.
Silver for September delivery fell 18.8 cents, or 0.95 percent, to close at 19.573 dollars per ounce. Platinum for October delivery fell 6.2 dollars, or 0.74 percent, to close at 837 dollars per ounce.
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