2018.10.2514:31:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Slightly Higher

Gold prices moved up on Thursday, with investors picking up the safe haven asset, after stock prices plummeted on Wall Street on Wednesday.

The fall, the biggest in a single-session for Wall Street in about seven years, resulted in the market giving up the entire gains it had recorded in the current calendar year.

Mounting concerns over earnings, the financial woes in Italy, escalating trade tensions and geopolitical worries triggered the massive sell-off in the market on Wednesday, and although stocks have rebounded today on bargain hunting and some upbeat earnings reports, the mood is still very much cautious in the market.

Despite the recovery in the stock market and the dollar's rise, gold prices ended marginally higher after data showed core durable goods order fell by 0.1% in September.

Gold futures for December ended up $1.30, or 1%, at $1,132.40 an ounce, not far off from its close of $1,236.80 on Tuesday. On Wednesday, gold futures ended down $5.70, or 0.5%, at $1,231.10.

Silver futures for December ended lower by $0.046, at $14.630 an ounce, while Copper futures for December ended down $0.0030, at $2.7545 per pound.

According to data released by the Commerce Department, new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods unexpectedly increased in the month of September, climbing by 0.8% after surging up by 4.6% in August. Economists had expected orders to drop by 0.9%.

The unexpected increase in durable goods orders was largely due to a jump in orders for transportation equipment, which shot up by 1.9% in September after spiking by 13.2% in August.

Excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders inched up by just 0.1% in September after rising by 0.3% in August. Economists had expected a 0.3% increase.

The report also said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a key indicator of business spending, edged down by 0.1% in September after dipping by 0.2% in August.

A report from the Labor Department said initial jobless claims crept up to 215,000, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 210,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 214,000. Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, dipped by 5,000 to 1.636 million in the week ended October 13th.

Meanwhile, a report released by the National Association of Realtors showed an unexpected increase in U.S. pending home sales in the month of September. NAR said its pending home sales index climbed by 0.5% to 104.6 in September after tumbling by 1.9% to a revised 104.1 in August. Economists expected pending home sales to edge down by 0.1%.