NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuters) - On Thursday, COMEX gold prices came off the dramatic rise of a day earlier, but floor brokers said trade buyers came in on the dips and sent it back up to its latest 4-1/2 week high when the euro resumed its advance on the dollar.
"There was good trade buying in here. the same buyer who was in here at $349.8 came in here to buy it at $356 and $357 on the dip. Gold's firm in here. It held on the dip on the profit-taking sell off," said one COMEX broker.
"We saw some liquidation in here early on from people who were long from way below. But, the euro's firm and we firmed up and there's been trade buying on the dip. People came in to buy the dip opportunistically," the broker said.
August gold futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division fell $1.40 to $357.20 an ounce, after an earlier ascent to fresh 4-1/2-week highs. Thursday's range ran from $356.00 to $361.70.
Early COMEX gold volume was estimated at 10,000 lots.
The dollar rebounded early from a three-week low against the euro as a surprising drop in the number of Americans filing claims for U.S. unemployment benefits temporarily alleviated concerns about the pace of economic growth.
But the enthusiasm over the jobless claims data was short-lived and dollar buyers capitulated to the euro.
The euro was quoted near session highs against the dollar at $1.1480/85. The day's high was $1.1511.
A stronger euro makes dollar-denominated gold a more attractive investment in key European and Asian markets.
Spot gold rose to $359.50/0.05 from $358.10/8.85 late Wednesday. London dealers fixed the morning spot reference price at $359.80 an ounce.
COMEX September silver was teetering around unchanged at $5.07 an ounce Thursday, after soaring 28.0 cents a day earlier to its highest level in a year. Still trading toward the high end of the weekly range Thursday's action spanned $5.01 to $5.09 an ounce.
"Some late fund buying came in. There was buying around for the opening. It looks like there was some trade selling there at the (session) high. Then, once it got down to the low, a little buying came in off the phones for funds then we continued to the highs of right now," said one COMEX broker.
Traders said they think Wednesday's high at $5.10 will be key resistance, and $5.02 serves as initial support.
Spot silver was higher at $5.05/07 an ounce than its $5.01/03 late Wednesday quote. Silver was fixed at $5.06.
October platinum futures were unchanged at $693.50 an ounce. Spot platinum rose to $691.00/696.00.
September palladium rose $3.50 to $171.00 an ounce. Spot was quoted lower at $164.00/169.00 an ounce.