Gold gains as data points to 2014 start date for Fed stimulus tapering
Published Dec 16, 2013 12:53PM ET
Bond purchases seek to boost recovery by pushing down interest rates, weakening the dollar in the process and making gold an attractive hedge.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at USD1,246.70 during U.S. afternoon hours, up 0.98%.
Gold prices hit a session low of USD1,227.30 a troy ounce and high of USD1,251.40 a troy ounce.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,220.10 a troy ounce, Friday's low, and resistance at USD1,267.30, Tuesday's high.
The February contract settled up 0.79% at USD1,234.60 a troy ounce on Friday.
London-based market research group Markit reported earlier that its preliminary U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index declined to a seasonally adjusted 54.4 in December from a final reading of 54.7 in November.
Analysts were expecting the index to rise to 54.9 this month.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported earlier that its Empire State manufacturing index came in at 0.98 in December compared to November's -2.21 reading, though analysts were expecting the index to rise to 4.75.
Separately, the Federal Reserve reported that U.S. industrial production advanced 1.1% in November after having edged up 0.1% in October, beating consensus forecasts for a 0.5% November reading.
The data encouraged investors to sell the greenback for profits until the Fed makes its policy stance clear on Wednesday.
Market talk said gold, which has taken a beating in recent sessions on expectations for the Fed to taper this week, could rally if the U.S. central bank opts to hold off until early 2014.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for March delivery was up 2.93% at USD20.178 a troy ounce, while copper for March delivery was up 0.51% and trading at USD3.329 a pound.
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Written By: Investing.com
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