Gold Edges Higher

Updated from 11:14 a.m. EDT

Metal traders struggled to find meaningful direction Thursday despite stout economic data.

The Department of Labor reported that last week's initial jobless claims were 308,000 vs. a forecast of 312,000. The figure for the prior period was revised slightly upward to 304,000 from 302,000. Separately the Commerce Department announced a bigger-than-expected trade deficit of $69.9 billion for August. Investors had expected the deficit to hit $66.5 billion, down slightly from the prior month's $68 billion.

Finally, the Federal Reserve's beige book report was generally upbeat with just two Fed districts reporting that growth "cooled" compared to five in the September beige book. The Fed believes inflationary pressures remain contained but the report notes that labor market conditions remain "taut," which prompted further discussion of wage inflation. ...