2021.04.2918:45:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Lower For 3rd Straight Day

Gold futures settled lower on Thursday, sliding for a third successive day, after bond yields rose and on data that showed the U.S. economy saw a strong growth in the first quarter.

The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury Note rose to about 1.65%. A slightly stronger dollar weighed as well on gold prices.

The dollar index rose to 90.79 before paring some gains and retreating to 90.70.

Gold futures for June ended down by $5.60 or about 0.3% at $1,768.30 an ounce.

Silver futures for July closed lower by $0.033 or 0.1% at $26.085 an ounce, while Copper futures for July settled at $4.4865 per pound, down $0.0110 or 0.2% from previous close.

Prelimineary data released by the Commerce Department showed an acceleration in the pace of U.S. economic growth in the first three months of 2021.

The report said real gross domestic product surged up by 6.4% in the first quarter after jumping by 4.3% in the fourth quarter of 2020. Economists had expected GDP to increase by 6.5%.

According to the data released by the Labor Department, first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits dropped to a new pandemic-era low in the week ended April 24th.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 553,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level of 566,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 549,000 from the 547,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Jobless claims fell for the third straight week, once again sliding to their lowest level since hitting 256,000 in the week ended March 14, 2020.