Gold Ends Lower On Strong Dollar

(RTTNews) - Gold futures ended lower Monday, as the dollar trended higher against a basket of major currencies, even as investors pondered over some weaker than expected durable goods orders data from the U.S. for July. The soft data once again renewed hopes the Federal Reserve will maintain its bond-buying program, while traders await fresh triggers from this week's macroeconomic news.

In economic news, new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods declined much more than expected in July, a report from the Commerce Department showed Monday. The decline, which follows three consecutive months of increase, was attributed largely due to a sharp pullback in orders for transportation equipment.

Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $2.70 or 0.2 percent to close at $1,393.10 an ounce Monday on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold for December delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,407.00 and a low of $1,388.40 an ounce.

Last week, gold gained nearly 2 percent to settle near a fresh two-month high on some soft new home sales data from the U.S. and with China reporting a better-than-expected manufacturing activity, a possible indicator the world's second largest economy is on the path to economic recovery. However, lack of clarity as to when the Federal Reserve would begin tapering its quantitative easing program capped big gains.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved up to 920.13 tons from 913.52 tons.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 81.45 on Monday, up from 81.36 late Friday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 81.51 intraday and a low of 81.27.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3367 on Monday, as compared to $1.3386 late Friday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3393 intraday and a low of $1.3358.

In economic news from the U.S., the Commerce Department said durable goods orders tumbled by 7.3 percent in July following a 3.9 percent increase in June. Economists had expected orders to fall by about 4.0 percent. Excluding a pullback in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders fell by a more modest 0.6 percent in July compared to a 0.1 percent increase in the previous month.

Elsewhere, a leading indicator for eurozone's economic activity increased for a third consecutive month in July, signaling an improving economic outlook, the Conference Board said in a report. The leading economic index increased 1 percent month-on-month to 108.4 in July after a 0.4 percent rise in both June and May.