Currency
The dollar dropped from a seven-week high against the yen but traded little changed against the euro on Thursday as U.S. bond yields declined and investors speculated the Federal Reserve will be cautious about reducing stimulus when it meets next week.
The dollar lost 0.4 percent to 99.42 yen, retreating from a seven-week high of 100.60 yen touched on Wednesday.
The euro was down 0.1 percent at $1.3298, hitting a session low of $1.3259 after the U.S. claims data.
Against the yen, the euro lost 0.6 percent to 132.20 yen. Against the pound, it was trading near a recent 7-1/2-month low.
The dollar index was last flat at 81.524, having hit a two-week low of 81.356, the weakest since Aug. 28.
The Australian dollar fell 0.7 percent to $0.9262 erasing some of the advance over the previous four days.
Energy
Global oil prices rose for a second straight day on Thursday as investors monitored diplomatic efforts to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons and Libya declared force majeure on another three ports.
Benchmark Brent crude oil for October, which expires on Friday, rose $1.13 to settle at $112.63.
The contract for November delivery rose $1.34 to settle at $111.53.
U.S. crude rose $1.04 to settle at $108.60.
Brent's premium over U.S. crude narrowed to settle at $4.03 after widening to $4.46 earlier in the session.
Precious Metals
Gold dropped 3 percent on Thursday, as a sudden price tumble in the futures market shattered investor confidence, sending the metal to its biggest one-day drop in more than two months.
Spot gold dropped 3 percent to $1,325.55 an ounce, for its biggest one-day fall since June 26.
Earlier, the metal hit $1,324.24, its weakest since Aug. 15.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled down $33.20 an ounce at $1,330.60, with trading volume at about 10 percent above its 30-day average.
Silver was trading down 5.4 percent at $21.92. It has lost 8 percent so far this week.
Platinum dropped 2 percent to $1,437 an ounce.
Palladium fell 0.3 percent to $688.47 an ounce.
Stock Indices
U.S. stocks slipped on Thursday, ending seven straight days of gains by the S&P 500 index as a drop in precious metal prices dragged mining shares lower.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 25.96 points, or 0.17 percent, at 15,300.64.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 5.71 points, or 0.34 percent, at 1,683.42.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 9.04 points, or 0.24 percent, at 3,715.97.
Volume was roughly 4.8 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the NASDAQ and the NYSE MKT, well below the average daily closing volume of about 6.3 billion this year.
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