Gold Prices Rise with a Weak Dollar
Investing.com – Gold prices were roughly unchanged on Wednesday as the dollar came under pressure despite bullish economic reports pointing to underlying strength in the U.S. economy.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $0.34, or 0.03%, to $1,277.95 a troy ounce.
Bullish durable goods orders and housing data failed to spark a recovery in the dollar, lifting gold prices off session lows as the precious metal attempted to snap a three-day losing streak.
The Commerce Department said on Wednesday non-defense capital goods ordersexcluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, rose 1.3% last month, beating forecast of a 1% increase.
In a separate report, the Commerce Department showed existing home sales increased 18.9% in September from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667,000 units. Economists were expecting a 0.9% decline to 555,000 homes.
Despite the recovery from session lows, gold prices remained under pressure amid reports that Stanford University economist John Taylor – an economist with a less dovish outlook than Fed chair Janet Yellen – was leading the race to notch the Fed’s top post.
Gold is sensitive to moves higher in both bond yields and the U.S. dollar – A stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency while a rise in U.S. rates, lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.
In other metals trading, silver futures fell 0.18% to $16.96 while platinum futures lost 0.12% to $924.40
Natural gas fell by 1.51% to $2.93, while copper traded at $3.18, down 0.47%.
