Gold Flat, Withstands Another Dollar Rally

Washington (Dec 24)  Gold prices are little changed Wednesday morning, ahead of weekly US jobless claims data.

Fairly steady global equity markets and speculation about US interest rate hikes are curbing the demand for the yellow metal.

 The US Labor Department  is scheduled to come out with its jobless claims report for the week ended  December 20  , at  8:30 am ET  .

Gold futures for February delivery are down  USD1.00  or 0.08% at  USD1,177.00  an ounce.

On Tuesday, gold futures ended down  USD1.80  or 0.2% at  USD1,178.00  an ounce, on stronger global equity markets and on data showing a more than expected US third quarter GDP growth.

The dollar's strength against a basket of major currencies also weighed on the yellow metal. The dollar index jumped to a new 4-year peak Tuesday.

Nonetheless, the decline in gold prices were somewhat capped due to a report showing an unexpected drop in US durable goods orders in November and on data showing an unexpected drop in new home sales.

Silver for March is up  USD0.040  or 0.25% at  USD15.807  an ounce. Meanwhile, copper is down  USD0.013  or 0.46% at  USD2.853  per pound.

Source: Alliance