Gold price jumps 1.3% after US sales data

14/08/2016 04:33 AST

Gold jumped 1.3 percent on Friday as the dollar retreated further after US retail sales data were unexpectedly flat in July. Friday’s unchanged reading for last month suggested consumer spending was cooling after the second quarter’s brisk 4.2 percent rate of increase.

Economists had forecast overall retail sales rising 0.4 percent and core sales climbing 0.3 percent last month. Spot gold rose to a session high of $1,355.80 an ounce and was up 1 percent at $1,352.11 by 1330 GMT.

“Prices had a new incentive to break higher, with a weaker dollar and lower than expected data from the US, which should further discourage the Fed to do anything on rates,” Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said.

“As long as gold stays above $1,300 there is no reason why funds holding big longs should worry too much.”

The dollar fell 0.5 percent against a basket of main currencies after data prompted investors to roll back expectations on when the Federal Reserve will raise rates.

Platinum rose 0.7 percent to $1,148 an ounce, after falling 3 percent in the previous session. Palladium rose 0.4 percent to $688.45 and was set to finish the week with a modest loss. The metal had a rollercoaster week, hitting a 14-month high on Wednesday at $746.10 and posting the biggest one-day rally in more than five months, before tumbling 5 percent on Thursday.

“A further move lower in the platinum group metals could trigger a move below $1,330 for gold in the next few days,” trader MKS Pamp said in a note. Spot silver gained 0.2 percent to $20.15 an ounce.

Gold is highly sensitive to rising US interest rates, as the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset increases while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced.

San Francisco Fed President John Williams said on Thursday a US interest rate increase this year was still a real possibility as inflation pressures grow.

But federal funds futures implied traders saw a 43 percent chance the Fed would raise rates at its Dec. 13-14 policy meet, down from a 47 percent chance before the data was released. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.03 percent to 972.32 tons on Thursday.

Arab News