SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures ended a seesawing Thursday moderately lower, as gold’s role as alternative to currencies provided a cushion against a rising dollar and concerns about the day’s lukewarm macroeconomic data.

If the metal earned accolades for holding up well, silver bucked the downward trend and was the sole major metals futures market to end in the red.

Gold for December delivery GCZ22, +1.05% declined $1.50, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,770.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Silver for December delivery SIZ22, +0.79% advanced 9 cents, or 0.3%, to $34.68 an ounce.

Gold did very well considering twin headwinds of stronger dollar and weaker U.S. equities. Weak macroeconomic data, including reads on manufacturing activity in China and Europe, also concerned investors.

Gold’s resilience stems from recently announced monetary easing in the U.S. and elsewhere, said James Cordier, a portfolio manager at Optionsellers.com in Florida.

“You’d think (a stronger dollar and weaker equities) would be a great excuse to take pretty big profits; this feels more like a pause” on gold’s rally, he said.

China's growth continues to slow

Gold shot up in recent sessions, amassing month-to-date gains of nearly 5% as action by global central banks to ease monetary policy spurred buying interest.

Monetary easing is positive for gold because it’s viewed as a store of value and, as a tangible asset, it benefits from fears of currency debasement.

Investors were evaluating the possibility of more stimulus for the Chinese economy as preliminary September data released by HSBC on Thursday showed manufacturing activity in the country contracted for the 11th straight month in September. Read more on China's HSBC PMI.

“Pressure is building on China to make the next move to provide stimulus to boost its slowing economy. A further contraction in its vast manufacturing sector could finally trigger action from Beijing,” Lynette Tan, precious-metals analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore, wrote in a note.

Euro crisis feeds gold bulls

U.S. data on unemployment benefits and manufacturing activity was lukewarm.

Markit said its flash manufacturing purchasing managers’ index remained at 51.5 in September.

Markit also reported euro-zone flash manufacturing PMI rose to 46.0 from 45.1 in August. Readings below 50 indicate a contraction.

Applications for U.S. jobless benefits fell by 3,000 to 382,000 in the week ended Sept. 15. Analysts polled by MarketWatch expected a drop to 375,000.

Later Thursday, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve showed a slight improvement in manufacturing in the region. The bank’s business-conditions index rose to minus 1.9 from minus 7.1 in August, showing that businesses continued to contract, but at a slower pace.

Gold was pressured by a higher dollar. The dollar index DXY, +0.07% , which tracks the greenback’s performance against six other major currencies, rose to 79.531 from 79.071 in late North American trading on Wednesday.

A stronger greenback is negative for dollar-denominated metals as it makes them more expensive to holders of other currencies. The broader metals complex tracked gold lower, with copper leading the declines.

Copper for December delivery HGZ22, -2.89% dropped 6 cents, or 1.4%, to $3.76 a pound.

October platinum futures PLV2 tumbled $16.50, or 1%, to $1,623.90 an ounce. Palladium for December delivery PAZ2 dropped $11.95, or 1.8%, to $661.10 an ounce.