Gold price traded lower due to a stronger U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar strengthened after the better-than-expected U.S. economic data. The number of initial jobless claims in the week ending June 06 in the U.S. climbed by 2,000 to 279,000 from 277,000 in the previous week. Jobless claims remained below 300,000 the 14th straight week. This threshold is associated with the strengthening of the labour market.

The U.S. retail sales jumped 1.2% in May, exceeding expectations for a 1.1% increase, after a 0.2% gain in April. April's figure was revised up from a flat reading.

The increase was driven by higher automobiles and gasoline purchases. Automobiles sales increased 2.0% in May, while gasoline station sales climbed 3.7%.

Retail sales excluding automobiles increased 1.0% in May, beating forecasts for a 0.7% rise, after a 0.1% gain in April.

These figures indicate that U.S. economy was finding momentum after a slow start of the second quarter.

June futures for gold on the COMEX today fell to 1174.40 dollars per ounce.