By Cynthia Lin
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures cemented losses in midmorning trading Thursday to slide below the key $1,200 level after earlier attempts at gains. Gold for August delivery fell $5.7, or 0.5%, to $1,193.2 an ounce on the Comex division. The drop came after the Labor Department reported the number of people filing initial claims for unemployment benefits declined by 21,000 in the latest week to 454,000. The report offered an encouraging sign of economic recovery, luring investors away from Treasurys and gold, which are often held as safety measures in uncertain economic times.
