Gold drops modestly in Asia following strong U.S. session

Gold futures slipped a bit in the early part of Friday’s Asian session, indicating traders may be looking to book some profits after the yellow metal turned in a solid performance in Thursday’s U.S. session.

Gold futures were likely to test support USD1,653.55 a troy ounce, Friday's low, and resistance at USD1,704.35, the high from Dec. 18.

Mostly ignoring a report that showed the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing index slipped to -5.8 in January from 4.6 last month. Economists expected a January reading of 5, traders punished safer assets such as the U.S. dollar during Thursday’s on the back of two other positive economic data points that helped send U.S. equities to their best levels in about five years.

In other U.S. economic news, initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 37,000 last week to 335,000. That is the lowest reading since early 2008 and well below the consensus estimate of 370,000 claims.

Gold prices rose on the coattails of U.S. equities in mid-session trading on Thursday after labor-market and housing data came in much better than expected.

Oil succumbs to profit-taking ahead of Chinese data

Oil futures traded slightly lower in the early going of Friday’s Asian, backing off the four-month highs set during Thursday’s U.S. session as traders await a batch of critical economic data out of China later today.

Natural gas prices surge as U.S. inventories make surprising declines

Natural gas futures rose on Thursday, hovering near five-week highs after U.S. government data revealed inventories fell more than expected last week.

Forecasts for cooler weather pushed up prices as well.