Los Angeles CA, January 11 (Tangible Investments) by James O’ Dell

Precious metals prices were mixed on Thursday as jobless claims miss expectations Gold benefits.

Jobless claims miss expectations…

Gold is up 0.33 percent to $1,320.70 an ounce after gaining $3.70 on Wednesday to close at $1,316.30 an ounce.

Silver is up 0.15 percent to $16.97 an ounce after adding $0.01 on Wednesday to close at $16.95 an ounce. The Gold/Silver ratio rose to 77.66. Platinum is up 1.03 percent to $980.00 an ounce. Palladium is down 0.37 percent to $1,073.00 an ounce.

Gold rose in early trading Thursday after the Labor Department reported that first time weekly jobless claims rose by 11k. The 261k claims were well above consensus forecasts of 245,000, and above the prior week’s unrevised 250,000 claims, as well.

The Labor Department pointed to the storms that devastated Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands last year as the culprit. Claims taking procedures continue to be disrupted in the Virgin Islands, said the Labor Department, referring to areas hit by the hurricane. The claims taking process in Puerto Rico has still not returned to normal.

China Debt Purchase Report Disputed

Meanwhile, Chinese officials are dismissing Wednesday’s media report that the Chinese government was halting or reducing its U.S. debt purchases. Bloomberg News reported the story on Wednesday.

China’s currency regulator said on Thursday, however, that China would be diversifying its foreign exchange reserves to safeguard their value.

Bart Melek, of TD Securities, says that Gold is benefiting from growing uncertainty in financial markets. Once that idea is out in the marketplace, it is hard to take it back, said Melek. I’m not sure that markets believe everything that is being said and that is good for Gold.

Alex Thorndike, of MKS (Switzerland) S.A., sees a period of price consolidation ahead for Gold after the recent run-up. Our view from here is that Gold needs to undergo some constructive consolidation, says Thorndike.

We have risen some $80 since mid-December and given the increase in Comex positioning since then, we feel that there will be sellers on rallies.”

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