14.02.201914:41:00UTC+00Gold Settles Slightly Lower

Gold futures settled slightly lower on Thursday, as the dollar, which lost notable ground on disappointing U.S. retail sales data, came off the day's lows as the session progressed.

Traders were closely tracking news about the high level trade discussions between top U.S. and Chinese officials, that kicked off in Beijing earlier in the day. There is optimism about the ongoing talks resulting in a breakthrough of sorts that would help the two largest economies to sort out their differences and work on a long term trade deal.

The Dollar Index, which eased to 96.95 post release of retail sales data, recovered to around 97.20 before retreating again.

Gold futures for April ended down $1.20, or about 0.1%, at $1,313.90 an ounce, after rising to a high of $1,317.35 earlier.

On Wednesday, gold futures ended up $1.10, at $1,315.10 an ounce.

Silver futures for March settled at $15.575 an ounce, losing $0.124 for the session.

Copper futures for March ended up $0.0010, at $2.7740 per pound.

Data released by U.S. Commerce Department showed an unexpected drop in retail sales in the month of December.

The Commerce Department report said retail sales tumbled by 1.2% in December after inching up by a revised 0.1% in November. Economists had expected retail sales to rise by 0.2%, matching the uptick originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding a jump in auto sales, retail sales plunged by an even steeper 1.8% in December after coming in unchanged in November. Ex-auto sales had been expected to edge up by 0.1%.

Data released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased to 239,000 in the week ended February 9th, up 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 235,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to drop to 225,000 from the 234,000 originally reported for the previous week.