The price of gold was little changed Thursday morning, with the US dollar trading firm versus a basket of currencies amid lack of clarity from the minutes of the FOMC meeting released Wednesday.
Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, slipped $2.90 to $1,367.20 an ounce. Yesterday, gold settled almost flat as the tone of the minutes of the FOMC meeting, released Wednesday, did not meaningfully reduce the risk of tapering this year.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved down to 913.52 tons from 914.12 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar moved back near its one-week high versus the euro, the Swiss franc and sterling. The buck rebounded near a three-week high against the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, German private sector activity expanded at the fastest pace in seven months in August, preliminary results of a survey by Markit Economics revealed. The composite output index, an indicator that measures the combined activity of manufacturing and service sectors, rose to a seven-month high of 53.4 in August from 52.1 in July.
Euro zone's private sector business activity expanded at the sharpest pace in more than two years in August, preliminary results of a survey by Markit Economics revealed. The headline composite output index, a gauge of business activity in both manufacturing and services, rose to a 26-month high of 51.7 in August from 50.5 in July. Economists had forecast the score to rise to 50.9.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were trading flat in morning deals.
From the U.S., the Labor Department will release its weekly jobless claims data at 8.30 a.m ET. Economists estimate claims to have risen to 329,000 from 320,000 in the previous week.
The Federal House Finance Agency will release the results of its house price survey at 9 a.m ET. The house price index based on the survey is expected to have risen by 0.6 percent month-over-month in June following the 0.7 percent increase in May.
Later during the session, the Conference Board is scheduled to release its leading economic indicators index for July. The consensus estimates call for a 0.5 percent increase in the index following an unchanged reading in June.
