Gold futures fell more than 1% Thursday as fresh jobs data fueled hopes that the U.S. economy is stabilizing and as deflation worries reduced gold's attractiveness as a hedge against rising prices.
Dampening gold's safe-haven appeal, the Labor Department reported early Thursday first-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level since the end of January in the latest week. Meanwhile, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. reported better-than-expected earnings results.
"There is a knee-jerk reaction to the earnings news and jobs data that are stripping gold of the safe-haven bid," said Brian Kelly, chief executive officer of Kanundrum Research, a commodities and macroeconomic research firm.
Gold for June delivery was last down $13.20, or 1.5%, at $880.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold investors also closely watched signs of deflation, as the metal is seen as a hedge against rising prices.
In gold trading, it's "almost a tug of war between buyers and sellers, inflation or deflation believers," said George Gero, a precious-metals trader for RBC Capital Markets.
Firming worries about deflation - or a prolonged annual decline in prices -- the Labor Department reported Wednesday that the consumer-price index fell 0.4% in March, the first annual decline since 1955. Energy prices tumbled 23% over the prior 12 months.
The government also reported Tuesday that prices at the wholesale level fell more sharply than had been anticipated last month amid weaker energy prices.
But some investors said the government's bailout plans and the Fed's efforts to provide more liquidity will increase inflation in the long term.
In jobs data, initial claims dropped by 53,000 to a seasonally adjusted 610,000 in the week ended April 11, the fewest total claims seen for a week since Jan. 24, the Labor Department reported. See Economic Report.
The Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book released Wednesday that the economy continued to worsen across in March and early April, but "five of the 12 districts noted a moderation in the pace of decline, and several saw signs that activity in some sectors was stabilizing at a low level."
There was more gloomy economic news Thursday, however. Building permits fell to a record-low level and construction of new homes dropped sharply again in March, the Commerce Department estimated. A big gain in February had raised hopes of a recovery.
In gold exchange-traded funds, holdings in SPDR Gold Share, the biggest ETF backed by gold, stood at 1,127.68 tons Wednesday, unchanged for a fourth straight session, according to the fund's latest data. SPDR reported better-than-expected earnings results.
"There is a knee-jerk reaction to the earnings news and jobs data that are stripping gold of the safe-haven bid," said Brian Kelly, chief executive officer of Kanundrum Research, a commodities and macroeconomic research firm.
Gold for June delivery was last down $13.20, or 1.5%, at $880.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold investors also closely watched signs of deflation, as the metal is seen as a hedge against rising prices.
In gold trading, it's "almost a tug of war between buyers and sellers, inflation or deflation believers," said George Gero, a precious-metals trader for RBC Capital Markets.
Firming worries about deflation - or a prolonged annual decline in prices -- the Labor Department reported Wednesday that the consumer-price index fell 0.4% in March, the first annual decline since 1955. Energy prices tumbled 23% over the prior 12 months.
The government also reported Tuesday that prices at the wholesale level fell more sharply than had been anticipated last month amid weaker energy prices.
But some investors said the government's bailout plans and the Fed's efforts to provide more liquidity will increase inflation in the long term.
In jobs data, initial claims dropped by 53,000 to a seasonally adjusted 610,000 in the week ended April 11, the fewest total claims seen for a week since Jan. 24, the Labor Department reported. See Economic Report.
The Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book released Wednesday that the economy continued to worsen across in March and early April, but "five of the 12 districts noted a moderation in the pace of decline, and several saw signs that activity in some sectors was stabilizing at a low level."
There was more gloomy economic news Thursday, however. Building permits fell to a record-low level and construction of new homes dropped sharply again in March, the Commerce Department estimated. A big gain in February had raised hopes of a recovery.
In gold exchange-traded funds, holdings in SPDR Gold Share, the biggest ETF backed by gold, stood at 1,127.68 tons Wednesday, unchanged for a fourth straight session, according to the fund's latest data. SPDR reported better-than-expected earnings results.
"There is a knee-jerk reaction to the earnings news and jobs data that are stripping gold of the safe-haven bid," said Brian Kelly, chief executive officer of Kanundrum Research, a commodities and macroeconomic research firm.
Gold for June delivery was last down $13.20, or 1.5%, at $880.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold investors also closely watched signs of deflation, as the metal is seen as a hedge against rising prices.
In gold trading, it's "almost a tug of war between buyers and sellers, inflation or deflation believers," said George Gero, a precious-metals trader for RBC Capital Markets.
Firming worries about deflation - or a prolonged annual decline in prices -- the Labor Department reported Wednesday that the consumer-price index fell 0.4% in March, the first annual decline since 1955. Energy prices tumbled 23% over the prior 12 months.
The government also reported Tuesday that prices at the wholesale level fell more sharply than had been anticipated last month amid weaker energy prices.
But some investors said the government's bailout plans and the Fed's efforts to provide more liquidity will increase inflation in the long term.
In jobs data, initial claims dropped by 53,000 to a seasonally adjusted 610,000 in the week ended April 11, the fewest total claims seen for a week since Jan. 24, the Labor Department reported. See Economic Report.
The Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book released Wednesday that the economy continued to worsen across in March and early April, but "five of the 12 districts noted a moderation in the pace of decline, and several saw signs that activity in some sectors was stabilizing at a low level."
There was more gloomy economic news Thursday, however. Building permits fell to a record-low level and construction of new homes dropped sharply again in March, the Commerce Department estimated. A big gain in February had raised hopes of a recovery.
In gold exchange-traded funds, holdings in SPDR Gold Share, the biggest ETF backed by gold, stood at 1,127.68 tons Wednesday, unchanged for a fourth straight session, according to the fund's latest data. SPDR reported better-than-expected earnings results.
"There is a knee-jerk reaction to the earnings news and jobs data that are stripping gold of the safe-haven bid," said Brian Kelly, chief executive officer of Kanundrum Research, a commodities and macroeconomic research firm.
Gold for June delivery was last down $13.20, or 1.5%, at $880.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold investors also closely watched signs of deflation, as the metal is seen as a hedge against rising prices.
In gold trading, it's "almost a tug of war between buyers and sellers, inflation or deflation believers," said George Gero, a precious-metals trader for RBC Capital Markets.
Firming worries about deflation - or a prolonged annual decline in prices -- the Labor Department reported Wednesday that the consumer-price index fell 0.4% in March, the first annual decline since 1955. Energy prices tumbled 23% over the prior 12 months.
The government also reported Tuesday that prices at the wholesale level fell more sharply than had been anticipated last month amid weaker energy prices.
But some investors said the government's bailout plans and the Fed's efforts to provide more liquidity will increase inflation in the long term.
In jobs data, initial claims dropped by 53,000 to a seasonally adjusted 610,000 in the week ended April 11, the fewest total claims seen for a week since Jan. 24, the Labor Department reported. See Economic Report.
The Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book released Wednesday that the economy continued to worsen across in March and early April, but "five of the 12 districts noted a moderation in the pace of decline, and several saw signs that activity in some sectors was stabilizing at a low level."
There was more gloomy economic news Thursday, however. Building permits fell to a record-low level and construction of new homes dropped sharply again in March, the Commerce Department estimated. A big gain in February had raised hopes of a recovery.
In gold exchange-traded funds, holdings in SPDR Gold Share, the biggest ETF backed by gold, stood at 1,127.68 tons Wednesday, unchanged for a fourth straight session, according to the fund's latest data. SPDR reported better-than-expected earnings results.
"There is a knee-jerk reaction to the earnings news and jobs data that are stripping gold of the safe-haven bid," said Brian Kelly, chief executive officer of Kanundrum Research, a commodities and macroeconomic research firm.
Gold for June delivery was last down $13.20, or 1.5%, at $880.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold investors also closely watched signs of deflation, as the metal is seen as a hedge against rising prices.
In gold trading, it's "almost a tug of war between buyers and sellers, inflation or deflation believers," said George Gero, a precious-metals trader for RBC Capital Markets.
Firming worries about deflation - or a prolonged annual decline in prices -- the Labor Department reported Wednesday that the consumer-price index fell 0.4% in March, the first annual decline since 1955. Energy prices tumbled 23% over the prior 12 months.
The government also reported Tuesday that prices at the wholesale level fell more sharply than had been anticipated last month amid weaker energy prices.
But some investors said the government's bailout plans and the Fed's efforts to provide more liquidity will increase inflation in the long term.
In jobs data, initial claims dropped by 53,000 to a seasonally adjusted 610,000 in the week ended April 11, the fewest total claims seen for a week since Jan. 24, the Labor Department reported. See Economic Report.
The Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book released Wednesday that the economy continued to worsen across in March and early April, but "five of the 12 districts noted a moderation in the pace of decline, and several saw signs that activity in some sectors was stabilizing at a low level."
There was more gloomy economic news Thursday, however. Building permits fell to a record-low level and construction of new homes dropped sharply again in March, the Commerce Department estimated. A big gain in February had raised hopes of a recovery.
In gold exchange-traded funds, holdings in SPDR Gold Share, the biggest ETF backed by gold, stood at 1,127.68 tons Wednesday, unchanged for a fourth straight session, according to the fund's latest data. SPDR fell 1% to $86.58 in recent trading.
In other metals trading Thursday, silver for May delivery fell 3.5% to $12.35 an ounce. June palladium was down 1.8% at $234.10 an ounce, while July platinum lost 1.4% to $1,208 an ounce.
May copper declined 1.1% to $2.175 a pound.
