SMM: COMEX futures closed higher on Thursday as investors expressed concern about the economic impact of rising cases of new crown pneumonia in the United States and around the world, despite improved economic data.

Comex August gold futures settled 0.6% higher at $1790 an ounce at 13:30 new York time.

The Labor Department's closely watched monthly payrolls data showed that non-farm payrolls rose by 4.8 million in June, the biggest increase since the government began compiling employment data in 1939.

"normally the dollar should strengthen because of these very strong data, but this is not the case, which means people are still worried that the economy is not out of trouble," said EdwardMeir, an analyst at ED&FManCapitalMarkets.

The dollar was basically flat, falling to a one-week low against a basket of currencies earlier.

The decline in unemployment and better-than-expected job growth in the United States in June only briefly lowered the price of gold on Thursday.

GoldMiningInc. "the employment figures are impressive, but the unemployment rate of 11 per cent remains high," said JeffWright, executive vice president. New crown cases are on the rise again, and many states are slowing down their economic plans. "

NaeemAslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade, said: "most investors do not believe that the unemployment rate will fall as rapidly as we have seen in the past two months."

The recovery of the economy from the outbreak may have suffered a setback as cases of new crown pneumonia surged again.

"you can't judge the economy by just one data point on a given day. People think the economy is recovering and the Fed will not have to do so much stimulus, "said MichaelMatousek, chief trader at U.S.GlobalInvestors.

However, he added that the Fed's minutes released on Wednesday indicated that the Fed "kept interest rates low until 2022, so this still provides a reason to buy gold."

Fed policymakers are considering reviving the Great Recession pledge to keep interest rates low until certain conditions are met to help the economy recover more quickly from the recession triggered by the new crown virus pandemic.

Unyielding gold has risen 17 per cent so far this year, driven by stimulus measures and interest rate cuts by central banks.

For other precious metals, September silver futures rose 10. 4 cents to settle at $18.322 an ounce.

October platinum futures fell $2.80 to settle at $831.6 an ounce.

September palladium futures fell $3.10 to settle at $1927.60 an ounce.

In addition, COMEX9 copper for monthly delivery closed up 1.45 cents at $2.7485 a pound.

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