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Gold up on mixed U.S. data, weaker U.S. dollar

Xinhua, July 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose on Thursday as mixed U.S. data and a weaker U.S. dollar gave support to the precious metal.

The most active gold contract for August delivery rose 11.7 U.S. dollars, or 0.89 percent, to settle at 1,331 dollars per ounce.

Gold was given support as the Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey report released on Thursday by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve showed its general business conditions index falling to a reading of negative 2.9, which analysts note was far worse than expected. This report gave extensive support to the precious metal driving investors to gold as a safe haven.

The U.S. Dollar Index fell by 0.13 percent to 97.01 as of 17:00 GMT. The index is a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies. Gold and the dollar typically move in opposite directions, which means if the dollar goes up, gold futures will fall as gold, measured by the dollar, becomes more expensive for investors.

The precious metal was prevented from rising further as a report released by the U.S. Department of Labor showed initial jobless claims decreasing by 1,000 to 253,000 during the week of July 16, which analysts note was better than expected and that strength of this level has not been seen since 1973. Additional positive news in the report showed continuing jobless claims continuing to decrease.

The existing home sales report released on Thursday by the U.S-based National Association of Realtors showed existing home sales increasing by 1.1 percent to 5.570 million homes, which analysts note is better than expected, as they also noted pricing increases which points to some weakness in the supply level of the market.

Silver for September delivery rose 20.2 cents, or 1.03 percent, to close at 19.815 dollars per ounce. Platinum for October delivery added 16.5 dollars,or 1.51 percent, to close at 1,108 dollars per ounce. Endit