James Gruber

The futures settled up 0.5% to US$4,711 an ounce.

Meanwhile, iron ore futures edged up 0.1% to 110.95 US dollars a tonne.

So Wall Street edged down from record highs it actually hit earlier in the session, pressured by a pullback in chipmakers following a recent rally, while investors awaited developments in U.S.-Iran peace talks, as well as unemployment numbers for the U.S., which are due on Friday their time.

The semiconductor index fell around 0.7%, having jumped almost 61% so far this year.

US-listed shares of Arm Holdings slid 10% as worries about the company's ability to secure sufficient supplies for its new AI chip overshadowed a strong earnings forecast.

The energy sector was among the biggest laggards among the major sectors, with a 1.8% drop as crude prices dipped.

In other movers, cybersecurity stocks surged after Datadog raised its four-year earnings forecast.

Datadog surged 30%, while Peers CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks added 8% and 7%, respectively.

Whirlpool slumped almost 13% after the home appliance maker missed first quarter sales estimates and suspended its dividend.

In U.S.

economic news, data showed the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits rose less than expected last week amid low layoffs that are helping anchor the labor market.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 200,000 for the week ended May 2nd.

Meantime, U.S.

government bond yields advanced in choppy trading on Thursday, reversing earlier declines as oil prices recovered during the day.

The U.S.

10-year Treasury yield was three points higher to 4.38%, while the U.S.

2-year Treasury yield was up four points to 3.91%.

Gil, the astonishing rise of semiconductor stocks has started to capture headlines.

Just before ChatGPT was released in October 2022, the market capitalisation of stocks in the semiconductor sector accounted for 6% of the total market value of the S&P 500.

Today, it's 22% and rising.