Gold prices fell Thursday as U.S. stocks rallied for a second day on hopes that trade tensions with China will die out.
June gold closes down 0.9% at $1,328.50/oz.
Traders considered a mixed bag of U.S. economic data and comments from Federal Reserve officials on interest rates.
The Federal Reserve should get interest rates up to neutral, said Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, on Thursday.
But dovish Fed member James Bullard said there's no hurry to raise interest rates.
"It is not necessary in this circumstance to raise the policy rate further in order to put downward pressure on inflation, since inflation is already below target," Bullard said in a speech to a meeting of the Arkansas Bankers Association meeting in Little Rock, Ark.
The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a bigger than expected increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended March 31st.
The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 242,000, an increase of 24,000 from the previous week's revised level of 218,000.
the Commerce Department on Thursday showed the U.S. trade deficit widened by more than anticipated in the month of February. The trade deficit widened to $57.6 billion in February from a revised $56.7 billion in January.
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