Gold price hits 5-week high after the release of the weaker-than-expected U.S. initial jobless claims data. The number of initial jobless claims in the week ending August 15 in the U.S. rose by 4,000 to 277,000 from 273,000 in the previous week. The previous week's reading was revised down from 274,000.

Analysts had expected the number of initial jobless claims to be 272,000.

Earlier, gold price rose on the latest Fed's monetary policy meeting minutes. Fed officials agreed at the July monetary policy meeting that the economy is approaching the point when the central bank needs to increase interest rates, but they were concerned about the weak inflation and a slowdown in the global economy.

October futures for gold on the COMEX today increased to 1151.40 dollars per ounce.