2022.03.1718:12:00UTC+00Gold Futures Snap 4-day Losing Streak, Settle Sharply Higher

Gold futures ended higher on Thursday, snapping a four-day losing streak, as the dollar fell against most of its major counterparts and bond yields drifted lower.

With the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates by just 25 basis points, throwing a surprise to some sections of the market that had priced in a stronger rate hike, the dollar shed ground against other currencies today

The Dollar index dropped to 97.73, losing about 0.9% from the previous close.

Gold futures for April ended higher by $34.00 or about 1.8% at $1,943.20 an ounce.

Silver futures for May ended up by $0.906 at $25.616 an ounce, while Copper futures for May settled at $4.7020 per pound, gaining $0.0970.

In U.S. economic news, data from the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims dipped to 214,000 in the week ended March 12th, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week's revised level of 229,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 220,000 from the 227,000 originally reported for the previous week.

A separate report from the Commerce Department showed housing starts rebounded by much more than expected in the month of February, spiking by 6.8% to an annual rate of 1.769 million, after plunging by 5.5% to a revised rate of 1.657 million in January.

Economists had expected housing starts to jump by 3.2 percent to a rate of 1.690 million from the 1.638 million originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report showed building permits slumped by 1.9% to an annual rate of 1.859 million in February after rising by 0.5% to a revised rate of 1.895 million in January.

The Fed also released a report showing industrial production in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of February.