Gold prices initially hit four-week lows on Thursday after better-than-expected weekly U.S. jobless claims data led to fewer bids for the safe haven. But it recovered all of that later amid speculation that the United States and China were close to a trade deal that could end the tariffs war of the past year. The dispute had taken a great toll on their economies and upended the livelihood of many U.S. farmers and Chinese entrepreneurs.

Gold futures for June delivery, traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, settled the official trading session down $1, or 0.1%, at $1,294.30 per ounce.

Gold's fate from a U.S.-China trade deal is far from clear.

For one thing, the dollar, and not gold, has been the most popular hedge to the U.S.-China trade war despite the safe-haven standing of the precious metal. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.3% on Thursday to 96.907.