Gold Continues To Slide Below $1,000

Gold continued to decline and posted its first weekly decline in six weeks. Investors considered an assortment of economic data.

December gold dropped to $991.60 per ounce, down $7.30 for the session. Prices dipped as low as $990.40 earlier in the session.

In economic news, a Commerce Department report showed that orders for durable goods fell 2.4 percent in August following a revised 4.8 percent increase in July. The decrease surprised economists, who had expected orders to edge up 0.4 percent compared to the 5.1 percent increase that had been reported for the previous month.

The Reuters and the University of Michigan reported that consumer sentiment index was revised up to a reading of 73.5 from the preliminary reading of 70.2. With the upward revision, the index came in well above the August reading of 65.7.

The Commerce Department report showed that new home sales rose 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 429,000 in August from a revised 426,000 in July. Economists had expected sales to increase by 1.6 percent to 440,000 from the 433,000 originally reported for the previous month.

Also on Friday, Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh has said that the central bank may have to start unwinding its monetary policy before it becomes apparent that it is necessary and that normalization might need to be more aggressive than what would be "customary."

Next week will feature some big economic data. Employment reports will come on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, while gross domestic product data is also due on Wednesday.

The dollar held most of its gains versus the euro after rising off of a yearly low on Wednesday. The buck also gained on the sterling.

by RTT Staff Writer

Source: rttnews.com