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Gold prices eased on Thursday as a stronger dollar and bets over an early policy tapering by the U.S. Federal Reserve weighed on sentiment, although losses for the safe-haven metal were limited by concerns that rising COVID-19 cases will slow global growth.

· Spot gold fell 0.5% to $1,778.65 per ounce by 2:21 p.m. EDT.

· U.S. gold futures settled down 0.1% at $1,783.1.

· Weighing on gold, the U.S. dollar rose to nine-month highs after minutes from the Fed’s July meeting showed officials largely expected they could ease stimulus this year, even though consensus on other key issues appeared elusive.

· “The only thing that is not clear as yet is when this (taper) might happen. Nonetheless, tapering has once again been priced into gold now,” Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said.

· Data earlier showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell to a 17-month low last week, underscoring recent views from Fed officials about labour market recovery.

· Market focus is now on the annual meeting on Aug. 26-28 of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

· Taper talks and concerns over rising COVID-19 Delta variant cases hammered risk sentiment in wider financial markets, driving investors towards safe-haven assets.

· “Gold is certainly benefiting from its safe haven status. While equity markets are falling heavily, gold is back in demand. Clearly COVID nerves are coming through,” OANDA analyst Craig Erlam said.

“A move above $1,800 looks more achievable,” Erlam added. “In the medium-term, downside pressure will remain on gold but that won’t stop it reaping the benefits of the jitters.”

· Gold prices are up about 6% from a more than four-month low of $1,684.37 hit last week.

· Bitcoin volatility will drive investors back to gold, says mining firm chairman

Wild swings in cryptocurrencies will eventually drive bitcoin investors to return to gold, says the executive chairman of gold mining firm Evolution Mining.

· Elsewhere, silver fell 1.4% to $23.15 per ounce.

· Platinum dipped 2.5% to $969.88 per ounce, and palladium shed 4.8% to $2,311.19 per ounce, having hit its lowest level since mid-March at $2,299.57.

· U.S. second-quarter growth likely to be revised higher after slew of strong data

U.S. economic growth for the second quarter is likely to be revised higher following a recent raft of stronger than initially thought data covering that period, which reflected the economy’s reopening amid improved public health.

The Commerce Department’s quarterly services survey, or QSS report, on Thursday added to a flow of data such as retail sales and inventories in suggesting that gross domestic product grew much faster than the 6.5% annualized rate reported by the government in its advance estimate last month.

· Jobless claims hit new pandemic-era low in a sign of hope for the employment picture

First-time filings for unemployment insurance hit a pandemic-era low last week, a sign that the jobs market is improving heading into the fall despite worries over the delta Covid variant.

Jobless claims for the week ended Aug. 14 totaled 348,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That was below the Dow Jones estimate for 365,000 and a decline of 29,000 from the previous week.

The last time claims were this low was March 14, 2020, just as the Covid-19 pandemic declaration hit and sent the U.S. economy spiraling into its deepest but briefest recession on record.

Continuing claims also fell, dropping to 2.82 million on a 79,000 decline from the week before. That data runs a week behind the headline claims number and also represented a new low since the pandemic struck.

· Philly Fed factory index falls in July to lowest since December

Growth in factory activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region slowed for the fourth consecutive month in August after hitting its highest pace in nearly half a century earlier this spring, a survey showed on Thursday.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its business activity index fell to 19.4, the lowest since December, from 21.9 in July. That was below economists’ expectations for a reading of 23.0, according to a Reuters poll.

· Goldman Sachs cut U.S. economic growth forecast

Goldman Sachs cut its economic growth forecast for the current quarter to 5.5% from 9%, adding to the negative sentiment. The firm also sees higher inflation than expected for the rest of the year.

“The impact of the delta variant on growth and inflation is proving to be somewhat larger than we expected,” wrote Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, in the note.

· Fed Chair Powell to speak on 'economic outlook' next week

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will speak on "the economic outlook" at next week's Jackson Hole, Wyoming symposium, the central bank said on Thursday.

The generic description for the highly anticipated speech contrasts with last year's more specific listed subject for the address, "Monetary Policy Framework Review", and gives investors and analysts no immediate clues on the Fed's timeline for withdrawing its support for the economy.

Some analysts expect Powell to lay out a clearer roadmap next week, particularly if he wants to keep the door open to an earlier start to tapering as favored by some Fed policymakers worried by recent high readings on inflation. Powell himself has argued that those readings are likely temporary.

· Republican senator calls on Biden to reappoint Powell to top Fed job

President Joe Biden should keep Jerome Powell at the helm of the Federal Reserve for another four years to build confidence in an improving economy that still faces significant risks, Senator Steve Daines said in a letter to the president on Thursday.

A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Renominating Powell, whose term expires in February.

· German economy on track for stronger growth in Q3 - ministry

The German economy is on track for a lasting, probably stronger recovery in the third quarter driven by lively domestic demand after gross domestic product expanded by 1.5% on the quarter from April to June, the finance ministry said on Friday.

· Japan's July core consumer prices fall, COVID clouds outlook

Japan’s core consumer prices fell 0.2% in July from a year earlier to mark the 12th straight month of declines, data showed on Friday, a sign the hit to demand from the COVID-19 pandemic is keeping the economy under deflationary pressure.

· U.S. evacuates 7,000 from Afghanistan in 5 days, thousands more ready to board planes in Kabul

· Taliban urge Afghan unity as protests spread to Kabul

· U.S. focused on potential for terrorist attack by Taliban foes, says security adviser

The U.S. government is "laser focused" on the potential for a terrorist attack in Afghanistan by a group like ISIS-K, a sworn enemy of the Taliban, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told NBC Nightly News on Thursday.

· COVID-19 UPDATES:

· Fauci says U.S. is expanding Covid vaccine manufacturing to donate more doses to the world