Gold up sharply after jobless claims; Germany-Greece drama in focus

Investing.com - Gold remained in positive territory on Thursday, as concerns over Greece's debt woes intensified after Germany rejected a proposed bailout extension request from the Athens.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery rallied $15.20, or 1.27%, to trade at $1,215.40 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours after hitting a session high of $1,222.90.

A day earlier, gold fell to $1,197.20, the lowest level since January 5, before settling at $1,200.20, down $8.40, or 0.7%.

Futures were likely to find support at $1,177.80, the low from January 5, and resistance at $1,236.70, the high from February 17.

The Greek government submitted a request for an extension of its existing loan agreement with the euro zone, which it differentiates from its bailout, earlier Thursday.

But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said it was "not a substantial proposal for a solution" and did not meet the criteria agreed on at the euro group meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Monday.

Greece’s current €240 billion bailout will expire on February 28 and the country will run out of money, which could trigger the country’s exit from the euro zone.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending February 14 decreased by 21,000 to 283,000 from the previous week’s total of 304,000.

Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to fall by 11,000 to 293,000 last week.

Traders reassessed their expectations for the timing of the first U.S. rate hike following the release of dovish Fed minutes on Wednesday.

According to the minutes, "many" policymakers were in favor of holding interest rates at current levels for longer and that raising rates too soon could weigh on the economic recovery.

The dovish minutes prompted investors to push back expectations for the first U.S. rate hike to at least the second half of this year.

A delay in raising interest rates would be seen as bullish for gold, as it decreases the relative cost of holding on to the metal, which doesn't offer investors any similar guaranteed payout.

Elsewhere on the Comex, silver futures for March delivery jumped 31.3 cents, or 1.92%, to trade at $16.57 a troy ounce. On Wednesday, silver tumbled 11.3 cents, or 0.69%, to close at $16.26.

Meanwhile, copper for March delivery eased down 0.7 cents, or 0.28%, to trade at $2.607 a pound in holiday-thinned trade.

Markets in the world's biggest copper consumer, China, will remain closed until February 24 for the Lunar New Year holiday, removing a key support for prices.

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