Gold Pulls Back Further Off Record Highs As Dollar Rebounds

(RTTNews) - Following the modest pullback seen in the previous session, the price of gold showed a more significant move to the downside during trading on Thursday.

Gold for August delivery tumbled $29.50 or 1.2 percent to $2,478.90 an ounce after edging down $2.90 or 0.1 percent to $2,508.40 an ounce in the previous session.

The price of gold saw its biggest one-day dollar and percentage decline in nearly a month, pulling back further off the record highs set on Tuesday.

The steep drop by the price of the precious metal came amid a rebound by the value of the U.S. dollar, with the U.S. dollar index climbing 0.5 percent to 101.53 after slumping to a nearly eight-month low during Wednesday's trading.

A rebound by treasury yields also weighed on the price of gold as traders looked ahead to the Kansas City Fed's Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, which gets underway later in the day.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at the symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, with traders looking for the central bank chief's comments to provide further clarity about the outlook for rates.

Ahead of Powell's remarks, CME Group's FedWatch Tool indicate a 75.5 percent of a quarter point rate cut next month and a 24.5 percent chance of a half point rate cut.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest rebound by initial jobless claims in the week ended August 17th.

The report said initial jobless claims rose to 232,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 228,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 230,000 from the 227,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors released a separate report showing existing home sales snapped a four-month skid in July, with sales rebounding by slightly more than expected.