(RTTNews) - The price of gold moved down near a six-month low Thursday morning amid a firm U.S. dollar.
Gold for February delivery, the most actively traded contract, lost $34.10 to $1,530.00 an ounce. Yesterday, gold shed nearly 2 percent as the dollar jumped to its highest since January versus euro.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged at 1,254.57 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was trading firm versus a basket of currencies. The buck was hovering around its yearly high versus the euro and a 6-month high against sterling. The dollar moved back to a two-week high versus the Swiss franc, while ticking lower against the yen.
Italy sold just above EUR 7 billion of long term debt at an auction, less than its maximum target for the sale and at a higher cost.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were moving lower in morning deals.
From the U.S., the Labor Department will come out with its weekly jobless claims data at 8.30 a.m. ET. Economists expect claims to increase to 372,000 after it fell to the lowest level in over 3 years in the previous reporting week.
The results of the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago's business survey for December are scheduled to be released at 9:45 a.m ET. Economists expect the business barometer based on the survey to decline to 60.7 after it surged 4.2 points to 62.6 in November.
Additionally, the National Association of Realtors will release data on Pending Home Sales, which is a leading indicator of housing market activity, at 10 a.m. ET. The index is expected to have risen by 1.4 percent in November after it surged up 10.54 percent in October.
