Gold Prices Unmoved by Re-Emergence of Brexit Risks

London (Dec 18)  Gold prices were unmoved by the re-emergence of Brexit risks as stronger-than-expected U.S. data boosted risk appetite.

Gold Futures for February delivery on New York’s COMEX were unchanged at $1,480.85 per ounce by 12:45 AM ET (04:45 GMT). The yellow metal hit a one-week high at $1,484.85 early in the session.

Reports that U.K. Prime Minister will amend the Brexit bill to ensure that the transitional phase of relations between the U.K. and EU ends as scheduled on Dec. 31 revived the possibility of a no-deal Brexit scenario, as EU officials are left with little time to negotiate a trade agreement.

The news pushed the British pound down, but provided little support to the safe-haven gold today as positive-looking U.S. data supported risk sentiment.

Housing starts were close to their highest in 10 years, while growth of the industrial production were also stronger than expected, data showed overnight.

In other news, Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan reiterated that interest rates will be kept on hold unless there is a huge change in the U.S. economic outlook.

“I’ve already got baked into my outlook, we’re going to have weak manufacturing next year, sluggish global growth, pretty sluggish business investment, but with a strong consumer,” Kaplan said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

“I’d been worried that weak business investment and weak manufacturing would seep into other parts of the economy. We haven’t seen that yet,” he said.

Investing.com