Gold Pulls Back Off Record High Amid Profit Taking

(RTTNews) - Gold prices decreased on Thursday as investors resorted to profit taking after the precious reached a new record high in the previous session. The pullback also snapped a six-day winning streak.

Front Month Comex Gold for September delivery fell by $27.40 (or 0.76%) to $3,565.80 per troy ounce.

Front Month Comex Silver for September delivery tumbled by 63.10 cents (or 1.52%) to $40.911 per troy ounce.

Data released by the US Labor Department today revealed that initial jobless claims in the US rose by 8,000 from the previous week to 237,000 on the last week of August, while continuing jobless claims decreased to 1,940,000 for the week ending August 23 from 1,944,000 in the previous week.

The four-week moving average of jobless claims crept up to 231,000 in the week ended August 29, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 228,500.

A separate Labor Department report revealed non-farm business sector labor productivity surged 3.3% in the second quarter 2025, rebounding from a 1.8% decline in the previous quarter.

The S&P Global composite PMI was downwardly revised to 54.6 in August from a preliminary reading of 55.4 while the services PMI fell to 54.5 in August from the year-to-date-high of 55.7 in the previous month.

The ISM Services PMI rose to 52 in August 2025 from 50.1 in July, beating forecasts of 51.

Having priced in a rate cut as a certainty, traders are looking forward to tomorrow's monthly jobs report, which the Fed considers as a key determinant of the economy. As the yellow metal is a dollar-denominated commodity, a radical shift in the forecast could impact dollar pricing and extend to gold.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller, who is a candidate for the current chair's replacement, stated yesterday that he supported a rate-cutting cycle in two weeks and voiced support for more cuts in the future if needed.

According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, the market is now pricing in a 95.6% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut this month.

As the Russia-Ukraine war nears 1,288 days, both sides are intensifying their military attacks against each other, with President Donald Trump's peace push stalled by non-cooperation from the Russian side.

In the recent weeks, concerns about inflation, tariff uncertainty, the US fiscal situation, doubts over the independence of the US Fed, and geopolitical uncertainty have forced investors to turn away from Treasury yields to the safe-haven metal.