Gold futures look to recoup some recent losses

San Francisco (Mar 25)   Gold futures clung to modest gains Tuesday, looking to recoup some of their recent losses as declines in monthly U.S. home sales and prices drove some safe-haven demand for the metal, prompting a rebound from a more than five-week low.

Gold for April delivery /quotes/zigman/10060693/realtime GCJ4 +0.01%  was up $3.80, or 0.3%, to $1,315 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, while May silver /quotes/zigman/10480467/realtime SIK4 -0.36% added nearly 6 cents, or 0.3%, to $20.125 an ounce.

“Minor economic news, such as new home sales coming in lower than anticipated along with higher than expected consumer confidence is presenting a mixed bag today,” said Jeffrey Wright.

The driving force behind gold Monday is more of a “minor consolidation around the $1,300 support level ahead of April options expiration day on Wednesday,” he said.

A gauge of U.S consumer confidence rose to 82.3 in March, from an upwardly revised 78.3 in February. The March reading came in well above the 78.4 expected by economists polled by MarketWatch.

Meanwhile, gold holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust exchange-traded fund /quotes/zigman/41663/delayed/quotes/nls/gld GLD +0.16%  climbed on Monday to 821.5 metric tons, up 4.5 metric tons from Friday.

“This is the second business day in a row that we have seen a purchase of over 4 tonnes,” said Julian Phillips, founder of and editor of GoldForecaster.com. “We are surprised by this and read it as an institutional investment in the face of deteriorating political global conditions as the impression is given that the confrontation between Russia and the West is going to worsen.”

“The fall in the gold price, in the face of the above, was surprising but consistent with a correction, after a change in trend in the gold price. To us it now appears overdone,” he said in a daily note.

Source:  MarketWatch