21.04.202518:15:00UTC+00Gold Gives Back Ground After Skyrocketing To Record High

After skyrocketing in the previous session, the price of gold showed a moderate move back to the downside during trading on Thursday.

Gold for April delivery dipped $17.90 or 0.5 percent to $3,308.70 an ounce after soaring $107.90 or 3.4 percent to a $3,326.60 an ounce during Wednesday's session.

The pullback by the price of gold may have reflected profit taking after the precious metal spiked to new record highs on Wednesday.

An uptick by the value of the U.S. also weighed on gold, as the U.S. dollar index has risen by 0.2 percent after slumping to its lowest levels in three years in the previous session.

Gold also moved lower as President Donald Trump made upbeat comments about trade talks, saying in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday that "big progress" had been made in a meeting with the Japanese trade delegation.

"Had a very productive call with the President of Mexico yesterday," he added in a post this morning. "Likewise, I met with the highest level Japanese Trade Representatives. It was a very productive meeting. Every Nation, including China, wants to meet! Today, Italy!"

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report unexpectedly showing a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended April 12th.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 215,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's revised level of 224,000.

Economists had expected initial jobless claims to inch up to 225,000 from the 223,000 originally reported for the previous week.

A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed new residential construction in the U.S. pulled back by much more than expected in the month of March.