Bullion prices ended mixed on Thursday, 16 April 2015. Gold held their ground near the key $1,200-an-ounce level, finding some support from weakness in the U.S. dollar as investors mulled the latest batch of U.S. economic data and developments tied to debt woes in Greece.
Gold for June delivery on Comex fell $3.30, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,198 an ounce after tapping an intraday low of $1,194.30.
May silver added a half cent to $16.284 an ounce.
Greek government bonds plunged Thursday, sending the yield on the country's two-year debt above 27%. Greece is in danger of running out of cash if bailout money from its international creditors isn't released soon. But talks on extending the country's aid program continue to drag on. Losses for gold were kept at a minimum as the dollar declined after a batch of downbeat economic data. U.S. initial jobless claims for the second week of April rose to the highest level in six weeks. March housing starts, meanwhile, rebounded slightly, while the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index in April showed a mild improvement.