The price of gold was moving higher Friday morning with better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data supporting prices.
Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, edged up $4.00 to $1,374.80 an ounce. Yesterday, gold settled flat with uncertain signs the Federal Reserve would begin tapering its quantitative easing program later in the year. However manufacturing data out of China supported prices. China's manufacturing activity expanded in August, raising hopes of increased demand for the precious metal from its second biggest consumer in the world.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged at 913.52 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was hovering near its one-week high versus the euro, the Swiss franc and sterling, while extending gains against the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, Germany confirmed its robust recovery during the second quarter, with domestic spending and investment boosting growth to the fastest pace since the start of 2012. The economy expanded as initially estimated by 0.7 percent in the second quarter from the previous three-month period, detailed results published by Destatis showed. This was the biggest increase since the first quarter of 2012.
meanwhile, the U.K. economy expanded at a faster than initially estimated pace in the second quarter due to an upward revision in construction output, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Gross domestic product grew 0.7 percent in the second quarter from a quarter ago, up from the prior estimate of 0.6 percent.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were ticking higher in morning deals.
From the U.S., the Commerce Department will release its new home sales report for July at 10 a.m. ET. Economists expect new home sales to come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 487,000 units, lower than 497,000 in the previous month.
