国际英语新闻：Gold edges lower as safe haven bid eases

CHICAGO, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange lost some momentum on Wednesday after jumping the most in three weeks in the previous session, as a flight to safety fizzled a little bit. Silver retreated and platinum barely changed.

The most active gold contract for December delivery inched down 4.6 U.S. dollars, or 0.3 percent, to 1,373.0 dollars per ounce.

The U.S. Commerce Department announced on Wednesday that the year-over-year rate for core personal consumption expenditures in October, which exclude food and energy, added a record low of 0.9 percent.

The poor reading fed into growing concerns that inflation is stabilizing at a level too low for the comfort of the Fed, and also offered investors less reason to purchase the bullion, which is usually bought as a hedge against inflation.

The U.S. Labor Department announced on Wednesday that last week 's initial jobless claims plunged 34,000 to 407,000, which is much less than economists' forecast of 435,000, and helped alleviate market concerns over the sluggish economic recovery, eroding gold' s safe-haven appeal.

Traders noted that the market was also hammered by investors' profit-taking ahead of the Thanksgiving holidays, as well as a slightly stronger greenback.

Silver futures for December delivery trimmed 4.4 cents, or 0.2 percent, to 27.528 dollars per ounce. January platinum added 0.7 dollars, or 0.04 percent, to 1,658.4 dollars per ounce.