Gold Ends Lower With Little Economic Cues
San Francisco (Aug 27) Gold futures ended a shade lower on Wednesday, trading in a narrow band for much of the day with little economic cues for direction. Investors also continued to opt for the riskier equity assets after the S&P 500 posted its first-ever finish above the 2,000 mark yesterday.
Nonetheless, the losses were somewhat limited with the dollar trending lower against a basket of some select currencies.
Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $1.80 or 0.1 percent to close at $1,283.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.
Gold for December delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,288.20 and a low of $1,280.90 an ounce.
On Tuesday, gold futures ended higher despite some positive global equity markets and a strong greenback. Economic reports out of the U.S. were quite encouraging with durable goods order for July rising 22.6 percent and consumer confidence jumping to its highest level in almost seven years.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, edged down to 795.60 from its previous close of 797.09 tons on Tuesday.
The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 82.43 on Wednesday, down from its previous close of 82.68 late Tuesday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 82.73 intraday and a low of 82.40.
The euro trended higher against the dollar at $1.3199 on Wednesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3167 late Tuesday in North American trade. The euro scaled a high of $1.3210 intraday and a low of $1.3153. In economic news from the eurozone, the leading economic indicators index rebounded in July, gaining 0.3 percent month-over-month, following the 0.1 percent drop in June.
At the Jackson Hold Symposium last Friday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has said the ECB might come out with more stimulus if inflation dropped further.
China's consumer sentiment dropped in August, results of a survey by MNI and Westpac showed Wednesday. The Westpac-MNI consumer sentiment index fell to 113.3 in August from 114.8 in July. The index was at 112.6 June.
Source: RTTnews
