(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) Gold futures settled higher today putting an end to a four-session streak of declines but a recent rally in the U.S. dollar kept prices at more than 1 percent lower week to date.
Gold for June delivery rose 0.2 percent to settle at $1188 an ounce on Comex.
August gold which is now the most-active contract settled at $1188 up 0.2 percent.
Gold has slumped this week as the ICE U.S. dollar index rallied. The dollar index was a little lower today after data showed first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week.
The index has jumped more than 1 percent over the course of the week however weighing on gold and other commodities priced in the currency. A stronger dollar is a negative for dollar-priced commodities as it makes them more expensive to users of other currencies.
Dollar strength has followed stronger U.S. economic data that reignited the debate over the timing of the first interest-rate hike in nearly a decade.
In other metals trade July silver also added 0.1 percent to $16.669 an ounce.
July platinum fell 0.2 percent to end at $1116 an ounce while June palladium lost 20 cents to $784.80 an ounce.
July copper finished nearly flat at $2.7675 a pound.
In energy trading oil futures settled modestly higher today following a turnaround in the minutes leading up to the close as traders assessed a weekly U.S. government report showing that crude supplies fell but production rose.
July crude ticked up 0.3 percent to settle at $57.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading as low as $56.51.
Data from the Energy Information Administration today showed crude oil inventories fell by 2.8 million barrels in the last week compared with analysts' expectations for an decrease of 857000 barrels.
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