Elsewhere in metals trading, palladium for March PAH5, +0.25% delivery rose 65 cents to $793.10 an ounce, while April platinum PLJ5, +0.16% was $2.10 to $1,223 an ounce.
High-grade copper for March delivery HGH5, -0.22% added a penny, or 0.4%, to $2.77 a pound.
Gold rose from earlier lows Thursday and briefly turned positive after a slightly weaker-than-expected jobless-claims report, but still closed below its Wednesday afternoon level after a session of choppy trading as investors moved money into stocks.
Gold for February delivery GCG5, +0.26% slid $2.20, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,208.50 an ounce, while March silver SIH5, +0.03% fell 16 cents, or 1%, to $16.39 an ounce.
Tokyo (Nikkei Average) up 0.5%
Hong Kong (Hang Seng Index) up 0.9%
Shanghai (Shanghai Composite Index) down 0.3%
Sydney (S&P/ASX 200) up 1.2%
Seoul (Kospi) up 1.1%
Taipei (Taiex) up 0.1%