Gold Ends Above $1,200 On Safe Haven Appeal, Middle East Tension

(RTTNews) - Gold futures moved up a seventh straight session to end at more than three-week high on Thursday, tracking declining global equity markets with investors seeking the safe haven while staying off the riskier assets, due mainly to increased tensions in the Middle East.

Gold prices pushed higher through a psychologically important level, as investors backed away from riskier assets amid a big sell-off in stocks and a stable euro.

Conflict in the Middle East, weaker stocks and signs that the dollar has topped out at 12-year highs have boosted gold's appeal this week. Tensions have escalated in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia launched air strikes in a bid to stop rebels from taking over the government in Yemen. The Middle East country is one of the world's major transit points for crude oil shipments, sending oil prices surging.

Gold rose despite hawkish comments from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who said the Federal Reserve should normalize interest rates as the U.S. economy continues to improve. Speaking in Germany, Bullard stood by the Fed's decision last week to remove its pledge to remain patient before hiking interest rates.

Gold for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $7.80 or 0.7 percent to settle at $1,204.80 an ounce, on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday.

Gold for April delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,219.50 and a low of $1,193.80 an ounce.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, edged down to 743.21 tons on Thursday, from its previous close of 744.40 tons.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 97.34 on Thursday, up from its previous close of 96.93 on Wednesday in late North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 97.39 intraday and a low of 96.17.

The euro trended lower against the dollar at $1.0875 on Thursday, as compared to its previous close of $1.0970 in North American trade late Wednesday. The euro scaled a high of $1.1056 intraday and a low of $1.0866.

On the economic front, a Labor Department report on Thursday showed initial jobless claims pulled back more than expected in the week ended March 21, after reporting a modest uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the previous week. Initial jobless claims fell to 282,000, a drop of 9,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 291,000. Economists expected jobless claims to edge down to 290,000.

Elsewhere, German consumer confidence is set to improve further to its highest level in more than 13 years in April, as weak euro and low inflation function as mini stimulus to the economy, survey data from the market research group GfK showed Thursday. The forward-looking consumer sentiment index rose to 10 in April from 9.7 points in March. This was the highest score since October 2001. The index was expected to rise marginally to 9.8.

The French economy grew marginally as initially estimated in the fourth quarter, final data from the statistical office Insee showed Thursday. Gross domestic product rose 0.1 percent sequentially following third quarter's 0.3 percent increase. The rate came in line with the estimate published on February 13.

French unemployment increased in February following a decline in the prior month, the labor ministry reported late Wednesday. The number of people out of work rose by 12,800 from January to 3.49 million. It increased by 0.4 percent on a monthly basis and 4.6 percent from last year.

The leading Index for France, which measures the future economic activity, increased in January, after remaining unchanged in the previous month, survey figures from Conference Board showed Wednesday. The Conference Board leading economic index rose 0.2 percent in January, after staying flat in December. In November, the index had risen 0.1 percent.

British retail sales continued to expand in February at a faster-than-expected pace, suggesting strong support from domestic spending to economic growth in the first quarter. Retail sales increased at a faster pace of 0.7 percent in February from January, when it gained 0.1 percent, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed Thursday.

The monthly growth exceeded a 0.4 percent rise forecast by economists and marked the fifth straight month of growth.

U.K. retail sales picked up in March after growth nearly halted in February, Distributive Trades survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed Thursday. The retail sales balance rose to 18 percent from 1 percent in February. Nonetheless, it was below expectations of 27 percent.