Gold settles at lowest level in a week
Bullion metals ended lower at Comex on Wednesday, 26 August 2015 at Comex. Gold futures settled Wednesday at their lowest level in just over a week after falling for a third straight session, as a jump in U.S. equities and strength in the dollar lured investors away from the precious metal. The metal also fell on the back of data showing a rise in July U.S. durable-goods orders, which may raise the prospects for an interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve, which in turn could lift the U.S. dollar and pressure dollar-denominated gold prices.
Gold for December delivery fell $13.70, or 1.2%, to settle at $1,124.60 an ounce on Comex on the heels of the losses in the past two sessions.
September silver futures lost 57 cents, or 3.9%, to $14.04 an ounce. They slid as far as $13.91 extending its losses this week to 8.1%.
On Wednesday, Beijing announced new stimulus measures, saying it would inject more liquidity into its sluggish economy $21.8 billion a day after announcing that it would cuts its benchmark interest rate. U.S. equities and the U.S. dollar have reacted positively to that news, which has put some pressure on gold. But in the week to date, the yellow metal has fallen about 2.9%, despite steep declines in global stock markets as investors fret about a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.
Economic data at US was limited to Durable Orders and MBA Mortgage Index. Durable goods orders increased 2.0% in July after increasing an upwardly revised 4.1% (from 3.4%) in June while the consensus expected a decline of 0.6%. A big reason for the upside surprise came from the automotive sector as orders for motor vehicles and parts products rose 4.0% in July after increasing 0.8% in June.
Aircraft orders, which were expected to push overall durable goods orders into negative territory, declined a relatively modest 7.8%. That drop was easily offset by the aforementioned increase in motor vehicle orders. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders increased 0.6% in July after increasing an upwardly revised 1.0% (from 0.6%) in June while the consensus expected an increase of 0.4%. The weekly MBA Mortgage Index ticked up 0.2% to follow last week's 3.6% increase.
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