INV: Gold futures trim gains to trade little changed after upbeat U.S. data
Investing.com - Gold futures trimmed earlier gains to trade little changed on Tuesday, after stronger-than-forecast U.S. data on consumer confidence and durable goods added to optimism over the economic recovery.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for August delivery traded at USD1,277.45 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours, little changed on the day.
Comex gold prices rose by as much as 0.8% earlier in the session to hit a daily high of USD1,288.65 a troy ounce.
Gold future prices plunged to USD1,268.75 a troy ounce on June 21, the weakest level since September 16, 2010.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,246.20 a troy ounce, the low from September 14, 2010 and near-term resistance at USD1,310.10, the high from September 28, 2010.
The Conference Board, a market research group, said earlier that its index of consumer confidence rose to a five-year high of 81.4 in June from a reading of 74.3 in May.
Analysts had expected the index to rise to 75.4 in June.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Census Bureau said new home sales rose by 2.1% to a seasonally adjusted 476,000 units in May, beating expectations for an increase of 1.3% to 462,000.
The upbeat data came after the U.S. Commerce Department said orders for long lasting manufactured goods rose 0.7% last month, defying expectations for a 0.1% decline.
Core durable goods orders, which exclude volatile transportations items, were up 3.6% in May, outstripping expectations for a 3% gain.
Also Tuesday, Standard & Poor’s with Case-Shiller said its house price index rose at an annualized rate of 12.1% in April from a year earlier, above expectations for a 10.6% increase.
Gold prices were higher earlier after Federal Reserve officials played down fears over an imminent end to the central bank’s stimulus program.
On Monday, Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said the central bank was committed to continuing its bond purchase program until the U.S. unemployment rate falls further.
Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher also downplayed market jitters over tapering as overdone.
Gold prices lost 6.8% last week, the worst weekly decline since September 2011, after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the bank could begin tapering asset purchases by the end of 2013 if the economy continues to pick up.
Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would end its bond-buying program sooner-than-expected.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for September delivery rose 0.5% to trade at USD19.63 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery rallied 1.75% to trade at USD3.082 a pound.
The industrial metal fell to a three-year low of USD2.986 a pound earlier in the session, before turning higher after China’s central bank sought to reassure investors that liquidity would be kept at an appropriate level to support growth.
China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.
