Gold Prices Rise on Equity Selloff, U.S. GDP on Tap

London (Oct 26)  At 3:26 AM ET (7:26 GMT), gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $7.70, or 0.63%, to $1,236.80 a troy ounce, backing away from $1,237.80 reached on Tuesday amid simmering geopolitical tensions.

Worrying signs from U.S. corporate heavyweights such as Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), that reported earnings after Tuesday’s close, dampened enthusiasm for stocks in Asia.

Google’s parent company saw shares slide nearly 4% during extended hours after its third-quarter revenue missed forecasts, while shares in the online retailer plunged more than 7% as its sales and operating income fell short of estimates.

The gloom spread to Europe in early trading on Friday with all the major indices down more than 1%.

Although the risk-off sentiment buoyed gold prices, traders were cautious ahead of the publication of the U.S. third-quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT) Friday.

Analysts’ estimates put expected growth at 3.3% that, while slower than the 4.2% expansion seen in the prior quarter, would put the U.S. economy on track to post its best annual expansion in 13 years.

Also on the economic docket, the University of Michigan will release its revised reading of consumer sentiment for October.

In other metals trading, silver futures gained 0.30% at $14.655 a troy ounce by 3:31 AM ET (7:31 GMT).

Palladium futures advanced 0.17% to $1,089.50 an ounce, while sister metal platinum fell 0.28% at $829.60.

Investing.com