Gold falls more than $25 in New York

Gold prices fell again Thursday as the US dollar strengthened versus the euro and on decreased sentiment for future interest rate increases in the United States.

April gold dropped $25.30 to $920.50 per troy ounce in New York.

Some analysts think gold will have to drop to $850 per troy ounce before investor interest returns, but some still think that gold and other commodities are likely to see much higher prices than recent record highs by later in the year.

Among other precious metals, April platinum was $9.70 lower to $1,877.30 per troy ounce while May silver dropped $1.60 to $16.85 per troy ounce.

Copper and other base metals were also lower, falling on worries that demand will decline globally due to the weakness of the US economy.

The fact that the US economy is approaching or is already in a recession was underlined by new data showing that first-time jobless claims were up by 22,000 in the week ending 15 March, while continuing unemployment claims rose to 2.865 million.

May copper was down 6 cents to $3.57 per pound in New York while three-month copper dropped $139 to $7,840 per tonne, or $3.55 per pound, on the London Metal Exchange.