The price of gold rebounded near $,1400 Thursday morning, with the US dollar paring recent gains versus a basket of currencies after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks were seen as supportive of leaving the monetary policy unchanged.
Gold for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $24.80 to $1,392.20 an ounce. Yesterday, gold settled lower as investors weighed the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony before the Congress that the central bank would likely go slow on its quantitative easing program soon. Bernanke's remarks were seen as supportive of leaving the monetary policy unchanged in the near future. Nevertheless, the Fed chief generated some negative sentiment in his testimony before the Congress when he indicated that upbeat economic data could lead the central bank to scale back its asset purchase program in the next few meetings.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved down to 1,020.07 tons from 1,023.08 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar continued to level off from its 6-week high versus the euro, while trading flat against sterling. The buck was steady near its 4-year high versus the yen, while hovering around its 10-month high against the Swiss franc.
In economic news, Germany's private sector activity improved from a five-month low, but remained marginally below the neutral level, flash survey results from Markit Economics showed. The composite output index rose to 49.9 in May from a five-month low of 49.2 in April. A reading below 50 suggests contraction.
Meanwhile, euro zone's private sector activity continued to decline in May, but at a slower pace than in the previous month, flash results of a survey by Markit Economics showed. The composite output index, that measures performance of the both manufacturing and service sectors, rose to 47.7 in May from 46.9 in April. Economists expected the reading to rise to 47.2.
The U.K. economy avoided recession in the first quarter as initially estimated, second estimates from the Office for National Statistics showed. Gross domestic product grew 0.3 percent sequentially in the first quarter, offsetting the last quarter's 0.3 percent fall.
Elsewhere, the price of silver was moving higher, while platinum edges down in morning deals.
From the U.S., the Labor Department will come out with its report on weekly jobless claims at 8.30 a.m ET. Economists expect claims to have fell to 345,000 from 360,000 in the previous week.
A little later, the Federal House Finance Agency will release the results of its house price survey for March. The house price index based on the survey is expected to increase 0.9 percent month-over-month compared to a 0.7 percent increase in February.
The Commerce Department will release its new home sales report for April at 10 am ET. The consensus expectations call for new home sales to come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 425,000 from 417,000 in March.
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Market Analysis
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.