Gold Moves Sharply Lower Following U.S-U.K. Trade Deal

(RTTNews) - Following the pullback seen in the previous session, the price of gold showed an even more substantial move to the downside during trading on Thursday.

Gold for May delivery plunged $84.80 or 2.5 percent to $3,296.60 an ounce after slumping $30 or 0.9 percent to $3,381.40 an ounce during Wednesday's session.

The steep drop by gold futures came as news of trade deal between the U.S. and the U.K. reduced the precious metal's safe haven appeal.

President Donald Trump unveiled the framework of the trade agreement with the U.K. but noted the final details of the deal are still "being written up."

Trump claimed the deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, and will see the U.K. reduce or eliminate numerous non-tariff barriers.

Even with the deal, the 10 percent tariff Trump imposed on most countries in early April will remain in place for imports from the U.K.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits saw a modest decline in the week ended May 3rd.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 228,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 241,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to slip to 230,000.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average inched up to 227,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 226,000.

The Labor Department also released a separate report showing a pullback by U.S. labor productivity in the first quarter of 2025 along with a sharp increase by unit labor costs.