Gold prices rose today , reaching a three-month high at the same time , and closer to $ 1,300 per ounce , as disappointing economic data from the United States put pressure on the dollar and the stock markets.

As it became known , retail sales fell 0.4 percent last month , led by a drop in car sales . Sales fell by a revised 0.1 percent in December . Economists had forecast that retail sales will be unchanged in January after rising 0.2 percent in December, which was reported earlier. Retail sales excluding auto sales remained unchanged from the previous month. Excluding autos , gasoline, building materials and food services , so-called core sales fell 0.3 percent after rising by a revised 0.3 percent down in December.

Meanwhile, another report showed that the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits , a measure of layoffs, increased by 8000 and amounted to a seasonally adjusted 339,000 in the week ended February 8. The result was slightly higher than the 331,000 projected by economists. Meaning last week 331,000 remained without revision.

The four-week moving average of applications , which smooths the volatile weekly data , rose to 336,750 .

Secondary applications for jobless benefits in the week January 26 - February 1, decreased by 18,000 to 2.953 million

With regard to the technical picture, experts say it looks more optimistic , and many participants are waiting for a dip to buy. However, they warn that the medium-term outlook for gold is still negative , given the U.S. economic recovery and the dynamics of the dollar. Recall that , as a rule , gold has an inverse correlation with the dollar - a weaker U.S. currency makes metals cheaper and increases demand . Meanwhile, investor risk aversion tends to increase interest in gold , which is often seen as a safe haven .

Traders note that strong resistance is now located at $ 1,300 per ounce, which is just the 200-day moving average .

Higher gold prices over the past few sessions reduced physical buying in China, which is the world's largest consumer of gold , after earlier in the week 's trading volume reached high values ​​in May . We add that the premium for gold fell to $ 5 on Thursday to $ 7 in the previous session .

The cost of the April gold futures on the COMEX today rose to $ 1297.00 per ounce for ounce.