Gold prices increased on Thursday, benefiting from a weaker dollar against major currencies and mounting pressures on U.S. Treasury yields following recent data.
U.S. unemployment claims dropped by 15,000 to 227,000 last week, defying expectations of a rise to 245,000.
As a result, U.S. Treasury yields fell, with two-year yields decreasing by 2.5 basis points to 4.062%, 10-year yields dipping by two basis points to 4.222%, and 30-year yields dropping by 1.5 basis points to 4.499%.
Additionally, the U.S. PMI composite reading for October climbed to 54.3, up from 54 in the previous report. Manufacturing PMI edged higher to 47.8 from September’s 47.3, while services PMI rose to 55.3 from September’s 55.2.
The dollar index slipped 0.2% to 104.1 by 16:36 GMT, after ranging between a session high of 104.4 and a low of 104.1.
Meanwhile, spot gold prices gained 0.5%, reaching $2,742.1 an ounce as of 16:36 GMT.