Strong dollar pushes prices lower
Bullion prices ended a quieter U.S. day session modestly lower on Wednesday, 25 November 2015, pressured by bearish outside markets on this day that saw the U.S. dollar index higher and hit a seven-month high.
February Comex gold was last down $4.20 at $1,069.10 an ounce. March Comex silver was last down $0.068 at $14.12 an ounce.
The tensions surrounding the Turkey military downing a Russian warplane on Tuesday subsided Wednesday, as there was very little risk aversion in the marketplace. While trading was slower during the U.S. day session Wednesday, due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, there was a very heavy slate of U.S. economic data out. The data was a mixed bag and the precious metals saw no significant price reactions to the data.
Friday it is typically one of the slowest trading days of the year.
Economic data at Wall Street included Initial Claims, Personal Income/Spending, Durable Orders, Michigan Sentiment, New Home Sales, and FHFA Housing Price Index. Initial claims for the week ending 21 November were 260,000, down 12,000 from the prior week's revised level of 272,000 (from 271,000) while the consensus estimate expected no change at 272,000. There were no special factors influencing the weekly initial claims reading, which has been bounded between 250,000 and 300,000 since July 2014. Continuing claims increased to 2.207 million from a downwardly revised reading of 2.173 million (from 2.175 million).
Separately, October personal income rose 0.4%, which is what the consensus expected. Personal spending increased 0.1% while the consensus expected a reading of 0.3%. Core PCE prices were flat while the consensus expected an increase of 0.2%. The October Durable Goods Orders report showed a 3.0% gain and a 0.5% increase in durable orders excluding transportation while consensus estimates for those measures were 1.5% and 0.5%, respectively. The report was driven primarily by transportation orders, which featured an 81% increase in nondefense aircraft and parts orders that followed on the heels of declines in both August and September.
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Also, the final reading for the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for November was lowered to 91.3 from a preliminary reading of 93.1 (consensus 93.1). The Current Economic Conditions Index was 104.3 versus 102.3 in October while the Index of Consumer Expectations rose to 82.9 from 82.1 in October. New home sales in October rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 495,000 (consensus 504,000) from a downwardly revised September reading of 447,000 (from 468,000). The FHFA Housing Price Index for September rose 0.8%, which followed an increase of 0.3% in August.
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