Gold declines around 1%

Gold price declined on profit taking after yesterday's rise. Gold increased on Wednesday after the release of the Fed's interest rate decision. The Fed kept its interest rate unchanged at 0.25% - 0.50% as widely expected by analysts. But the Fed noted that it was "closely monitoring global economic and financial developments and is assessing their implications for the labour market and inflation, and for the balance of risks to the outlook". Market participants speculate that the Fed could delay its further interest rate hikes.

Market participants also eyed today's U.S. economic data. The U.S. Labor Department released its jobless claims figures on Thursday. The number of initial jobless claims in the week ending January 23 in the U.S. dropped by 16,000 to 278,000 from 294,000 in the previous week. Analysts had expected jobless claims to fall to 282,000.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released its pending home sales figures for the U.S. on Thursday. Pending home sales in the U.S. rose 0.1% in December, missing expectations for a 0.8% gain, after a 1.1% drop in November. The increase was mainly lead by a rise the Northeast.

February futures for gold on the COMEX today fell to 1115.70 dollars per ounce.