2016.06.3014:32:00UTC+00Gold Eases Near Yearly Highs

Gold futures edged lower Thursday, staying away from last week's 2-year highs.

August gold was down $6.30, or 0.5%, on day to settle at $1,320.60/oz. Still, gold is up about 25% this year.

At mid-day, there was little reaction to news that S&P downgrades EU rating to 'AA' from 'AA+'

n U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report this morning showing that initial jobless claims rose by slightly more than expected in the week ended June 25th.

The report said initial jobless claims rose to 268,000, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week's revised level of 258,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge up to 266,000 from the 259,000 originally reported for the previous week.