Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange suffered the biggest single-session decline in April, falling back below 1,300 U.S. dollar per ounce on Thursday.

The most active gold contract for June delivery went down 20.60 dollars, or 1.57 percent, to settle at 1,293.30 dollars per ounce.

The European Council on Thursday morning agreed to a six-month extension of the Brexit process, setting a new deadline for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union on Oct. 31, 2019, and narrowly avoiding a no-deal scenario that had been scheduled for April 12.

The temporary defusing of Brexit crisis curbed the appeal for gold, a safe haven asset, said market analysts.

Profit taking also contributed to the fall of gold futures, which has posted gains in the past four sessions in a row.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index, a measure of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, rose 0.22 percent to 97.13 just before the gold's settlement.

Gold and the dollar typically move in opposite directions. If the dollar goes up, gold futures will fall as gold, priced in the dollar, becomes costlier for investors holding other currencies.

Also on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that U.S. jobless claims, or the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits, sharply declined by 8,000 to 196,000 in the week ending April 6.

This signaled a strong labor market that props up the U.S. economy, thus alleviating concerns over global growth slowdown, which had supported gold in recent sessions.

As for other precious metals, silver for May delivery dropped 37.7 cents, or 2.47 percent, to close at 14.867 dollars per ounce. Platinum for July delivery declined 13.60 dollars, or 1.5 percent, to settle at 895.30 dollars per ounce.