(RTTNews) - The price of gold was steady above $1,600 Tuesday morning even as the U.S. dollar was holding onto its recent gains amid some weak economic data out of Europe.
Gold for August delivery, the most actively traded contract, edged up $5.40 to $1,619.30 an ounce. Yesterday, gold ended lower on some weak economic data from the U.S. and China with commodities and equity markets under pressure. Gold prices were also impacted on global economic growth concerns, not withstanding a weak dollar.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged at 1,273.88 tons.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was hovering near its two-year high versus the euro and around its five-month high against sterling. The buck was steady near its 16-month high against the Swiss franc, while lingering near a 4-month low versus the yen.
In economic news, the euro zone private sector shrank less than initially estimated in May, but the decline was the biggest since June 2009, according to the data from Markit Economics. The composite output index dropped to 46 from 46.7 in April. The reading was slightly above the flash reading of 45.9.
Meanwhile, data published by Eurostat revealed that euro zone retail sales declined more than expected by economists in April. Retail sales fell 1 percent month-on-month in April, compared to 0.1 drop forecast by economists. This followed 0.3 percent gain in March.
Elsewhere, Germany's factory orders declined 1.9 percent in April from a month ago when it grew 3.2 percent, the Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology said. The rate of decline exceeded the 1.1 percent drop forecast by economists.
The prices of silver and platinum were moving higher in morning deals.
From the U.S., the Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release the results of its non-manufacturing survey at 10 am ET. The non-manufacturing index is likely to show a reading of 53.5 for May, flat with the previous month.
