Gold dips as dollar regains strength ahead of retail sales data

Investing.com - Gold prices edged lower for the first time in four sessions on Thursday, as the U.S. dollar regained strength ahead of key U.S. economic data due later in the day.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for August delivery shed $3.30, or 0.28%, to trade at $1,183.30 a troy ounce during European morning hours.

A day earlier, gold prices hit $1,191.80, the most since June 3, before ending at $1,186.60. Futures were likely to find support at $1,168.50, the low from June 8, and resistance at $1,195.60, the high from June 3.

Investors looked ahead to U.S. retail sales and jobless claims data due later in the session for further indications on the strength of the economy and the timing of a future rate hike.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.45% to 95.02 early on Thursday, moving off overnight lows of 94.30.

Also on the Comex, silver futures for July delivery declined 7.9 cents, or 0.5%, to trade at $15.88 a troy ounce.

Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for July delivery slumped 3.8 cents, or 1.39%, to trade at $2.709 a pound after a flurry of Chinese economic data came in broadly in line with market expectations.

Official data released earlier showed that industrial production in China rose by an annualized rate of 6.1% in May, just above expectations for a 6.0% increase and following a gain of 5.9% in the preceding month.

A separate report showed that fixed asset investment fell short of forecasts, indicating that China needs to act to prevent a further slowdown in the economy.

China's economy grew at the slowest pace in six years in the first quarter, underling speculation policymakers will have to introduce further easing measures to jumpstart the economy amid lackluster growth.

Since November, the People's Bank of China has introduced a series of stimulus measures, including lowering interest rates three times and cutting the reserve requirement ratios of major banks twice, in order to spur economic activity and boost growth.

The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption.