Gold futures remain sharply lower after upbeat U.S. jobless claims

London (Nov 21)  Gold futures held on to heavy losses on Thursday, after upbeat U.S. jobless claims data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin to taper its bond buying program in the coming months.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,244.60 a troy ounce during U.S. morning trade, down 1.1%.

Comex gold prices fell to session low of USD1,241.70 a troy ounce earlier, the weakest level since July 9.

The December contract settled 1.22% lower on Wednesday to end at USD1,258.00 a troy ounce.

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,232.05 a troy ounce, the low from July 9 and resistance at USD1,275.70, the high from November 20.

The U.S. Department of Labor said earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending November 15 declined by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 323,000.

Analysts had expected U.S. jobless claims to fall by 9,000 to 335,000 last week from the previous week's revised total of 344,000.

Minutes from the Fed's October meeting published Wednesday triggered fresh concerns that the central bank could begin to slow its bond-purchasing program as soon as December.

According to the minutes, policymakers said they could start scaling back the USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program in the "coming months" if the economy continues to improve as expected.

Gold prices are down approximately 26% this year on concerns the Fed would start tapering its USD85-billion-a-month asset-purchase program by the end of the year.

Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery fell 1% to trade at USD19.85 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery lost 0.1% to trade at USD3.157 a pound.