02.01.2015 20:01:35

Gold Ends Slightly Higher On Soft U.S. Data

(RTTNews) - Gold futures rallied to end higher on Friday, tracking declining global equity markets, weighed down by some soft economic data from the U.S. despite the dollar trending higher against a select band of currencies.

Earlier in the session, gold prices moved lower with the dollar jumping to its highest in four years against the euro. The euro tumbled after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi hinted to a German newspaper that the central bank may soon back full-scale quantitative easing.

Nevertheless, gold found support on some soft economic data out of the U.S., after a report from the Institute for Supply Management showed the pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector to have dropped to a six-month low in December, having reported a slight slowdown in the pace of growth in the previous month.

Meanwhile, construction spending in the U.S. dropped unexpectedly in November, due primarily to a steep drop in spending on public construction, a report from the Commerce Department showed.

Gold for February delivery, the most actively traded contract, inched up $2.10 or about 0.2 percent to settle at $1,186.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday.

Gold for February delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,194.90 and a low of $1,167.30 an ounce.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, edged lower to 709.02 tons on Friday, from its previous close of 712.30 tons.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 91.02 on Friday, up from its previous close of 90.28 late Thursday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 91.07 intraday and a low of 90.33.

The euro trended lower against the dollar at $1.2015 on Friday, as compared to its previous close of $1.2098 late Thursday in North American trade. The euro scaled a high of $1.2099 intraday and a low of $1.2005.

On the economic front, the ISM said its purchasing managers index dropped to 55.5 in December from 58.7 in November. Economists had expected the index to drop to 57.5. With the bigger than expected decrease, the index is at its lowest since hitting 55.3 in June.

The U.S. Commerce Department said construction spending fell 0.3 percent to an annual rate of $975.0 billion in November from the revised October estimate of $977.7 billion. The drop came as a surprise with economists anticipating an increase of about 0.5 percent.

From the eurozone, German manufacturing sector returned to growth, as initially estimated in December, as new orders expanded for the first time in four months, final data from Markit Economics showed Friday. Germany's Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 51.2, in line with flash estimate, from November's 17-month low of 49.5.

Nevertheless, the French manufacturing sector contracted more than initially estimated to a four-month low in December, with the PMI dropping to 47.5 in December from 48.4 in November, below the flash estimate of 47.9.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the risk of deflation in the euro area had risen over the months, with the central bank preparing to react to such threats, if necessary. Draghi's comments suggest that the ECB is moving closer to unleashing full-blown quantitative easing, including sovereign bond purchases, which dragged the euro to its lowest level in more than four years.

Neu: Öl, Gold, alle Rohstoffe mit Hebel (bis 20) handeln
Werbung
Handeln Sie Rohstoffe mit Hebel und kleinen Spreads. Sie können mit nur 100 € mit dem Handeln beginnen, um von der Wirkung von 2.000 Euro Kapital zu profitieren!
82% der Kleinanlegerkonten verlieren Geld beim CFD-Handel mit diesem Anbieter. Sie sollten überlegen, ob Sie es sich leisten können, das hohe Risiko einzugehen, Ihr Geld zu verlieren.