Gold fluctuated after the release of important U.S. data, yet the shiny metal will probably record a weekly advance this week. Meanwhile, the main concentration is on U.S. data as the most recent data from the U.S. has been showing remarkable improvement. Yesterday, initial jobless claims for the week ended Dec. 17 to 364,000, the lowest in 3 and 1/2 months, from 368,000 a week before. University of Michigan confidence showed a rise to 69.9 in December from the prior 67.7. The improvement in the economy provided hopes the economy would lead global recovery in 2012 without the need of further stimulus from the Fed. However, today the data came mixed as durable goods rose by 3.8% in November compared with the prior revised flat reading and higher than median estimates of 2.2%. On the other hand, personal income increased by 0.1% in November, lower than median estimates of 0.2% and the prior estimate of 0.4%, and personal spending inclined by 0.1% in November worse than median estimates of 0.3%. In Europe, there has been some optimism after the approval of the austerity measures yesterday by the Italian Parliament which gave hopes debt crisis would ease. Yesterday ECB executive Board member said to the Financial Times that he supports the usage of quantitative easing to provide the needed liquidity, referring that the situation in the euro area is not like other countries such as U.K. or U.S. as "the ECB currently sees no risk of deflation.” Spot gold is currently traded near the day's opening level around $1607.50 an ounce after recording a high $1613.90 and a low of $1604.35. Still, the shiny metal is fighting to remain above the physiological level of $1600. Crude oil, on the other hand, is currently traded higher at $99.83 a barrel compared with the day's opening of $99.50. In the currency market, the dollar showed a slight drop after U.S. report, according to the dollar index, which tracks the greenback's movements versus six major currencies, which is currently hovering around 79.93 compared with the day's opening of 79.94. |
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