Gold Shines Ahead of Soaring Jobless Claims

Gold prices rise by more than $ 34 during Thursday's trading, with losses in the US currency and sharp leap upwards in jobless claims.

Today's economic data revealed a big jump in unemployment claims in the United States, to record biggest number in history at 3.3 million during the past week, while the US trade deficit declined by about 9 percent in the past month, led by decreases in sales of capital goods and industrial supplies and materials.

The precious metal had declined earlier in trading as investors rushed to obtain cash, as the fears of the corona crisis exceeded the US stimulus of $2 trillion to combat the economic impact of the epidemic.

Yesterday, the US Senate voted in favor of the stimulus bill to help the country's economy to counter the side effects of the "Covid-19" and sent it to the House of Representatives.

As for the virus, the number of global infections has risen to more than 472 thousand cases and more than 21 thousand deaths, according to the latest figures.

By the end of today's, the price of gold metal futures for June delivery increased by 2.1% or $34.40 to record $ 1668.70 an ounce, after recording $ 1612 earlier in trading.

The price of immediate delivery of the yellow metal rose by about 0.9% or  $ 14.50, to register $ 1631.78 an ounce.

During the same period, the main dollar index, which follows the performance of the greenback, against six major currencies, declined by about 1.1% to the level of 99.94