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1st LD Writethru: Gold up sharply on weak U.S. data

Xinhua, May 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose sharply Wednesday as a worse-than-expected U.S. retail sales report gave support to the precious metal.

The most active gold contract for June delivery went up 25.8 U. S. dollars, or 2.16 percent, to settle at 1,218.20 dollars per ounce.

A report released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Commerce showed retail sales unchanged in April after many analysts believed that retail sales would increase. This gave upward momentum to gold as the report was worse-than-expected.

Analysts say that continued poor economic data will lead the U. S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates later rather than sooner, which puts pressure on the dollar and gives a boost to gold.

The U.S. Dollar Index also gave support to gold as it fell by 0. 94 percent to 93.68 as of 1930 GMT.

Silver for July delivery rose 69.5 cents, or 4.21 percent, to close at 17.221 dollars per ounce. Platinum for July delivery added 17.8 dollars, or 1.57 percent, to close at 1,150.80 dollars per ounce. Endite