Gold dips in pre-Thanksgiving trade

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped slightly Wednesday in weak pre-Thanksgiving trade.

The most active gold contract for February delivery slipped 0.3 dollar, or 0.03 percent, to settle at 1,197.5 dollars per ounce.

Worse-than-expected U.S. economic data released Wednesday failed to give a boost to gold. U.S. Labor Department said the initial jobless claims jumped by 21,000 to 313,000 in the week ending Nov. 22, while economists' estimate was only 288,000; the Chicago PMI dropped in November to a reading of 60.8 from 66.2 in October, MNI Indicators reported.

But gold's drop was curbed Wednesday as U.S. Commerce Department reported that sales of new single-family homes in U.S. ticked up 0.7 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 458,000, the fastest pace in five months; and orders for durable U.S. goods rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent in October.

Meanwhile, the final reading for the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment index for November dropped to 88.8 from 89.4, but is still the best reading since July 2007.

Investors also are waiting for Switzerland's weekend referendum on its gold reserves.

Silver for March delivery lost 0.5 cent, or 0.03 percent, to close at 16.606 dollars per ounce. Platinum for January delivery rose 3.9 dollars, or 0.32 percent, to close at 1,228.4 dollars per ounce.