Gold prices stabilize in anticipation of economic data

Gold prices stabilized on Thursday, as investors awaited the release of the monthly jobs report in the United States on Aug. 3, which may be a primary reference for the Federal Reserve when deciding whether to start reducing asset purchases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a new strain of COVID-19 called Mu, saying that it contains mutations that have the ability to evade the immunity provided by a previous infection or vaccination against the virus.

Gold futures contracts for December delivery settled at $1,816.40 per ounce at 09:35am Makkah time. Spot price for the yellow metal settled at $1,814.72 per ounce.

Elsewhere, silver futures for December delivery settled at $24.22 an ounce, spot price for platinum delivery declined 0.2% to reach $1,002.75, while palladium fell 0.2% to reach $2,437.50 per ounce.

The dollar index - which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of six currencies – settled at 92.480 points.

The US will release last week's unemployment claims data later today, Sept. 2, amid expectations of 342,000.