NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Gold futures are moving lower Thursday as the metal continues trading within a range just shy of record levels.
The most-actively traded contract, for August delivery, was recently down $10, or 0.8%, at $1,235.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
While the metal is in a general price uptrend, it is consolidating between $1,230 and $1,250 as traders feel out chart levels around these never-before-seen high prices, said Carlos Sanchez, associate director of research with CPM Group in New York.
"We're filling in these relatively new price areas," he said.
After setting a record intraday high of $1,266.50 last week, August gold has traded between that level and a low of $1,225.20.
The metal may also be a little weaker because of July 4-related trading.
"We probably are having a little touch of lightening up positions ahead of the holiday," said Sterling Smith, an analyst with Country Hedging in Inver Grove Heights, Minn.
Unexpectedly rising U.S. jobless claims are also denting any argument for gold as an inflation hedge, he says.
In its weekly report Thursday, the Labor Department said the number of U.S. workers filing initial claims for jobless benefits increased by 13,000 to 472,000 in the week ended June 26. Economists had expected claims would fall by 2,000.
And there may be some additional caution in front of Friday's closely watched U.S. non-farm payrolls number, Smith said.
-By Matt Whittaker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2139; matt.whittaker@dowjones.com
