Gold Rises From 1-Week Low as Investors Assess Economy

New York (Oct 24)  Gold rose from the lowest in a week as investors weighed signs the U.S. economy is improving against the outlook for a delay to raising borrowing costs.

Bullion rebounded from this year’s low set Oct. 6 after the Federal Reserve cited slowing overseas economies as a risk to U.S. expansion. Traders have pushed back estimates for when policy makers will raise U.S. interest rates. The metal slumped 28 percent last year on expectations of less American stimulus.

The four-week average of U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest since May 2000, while the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index’s measure on the state of the economy rose last week, data showed yesterday. The dollar was little changed after reaching a two-week high yesterday, when global stocks rose 0.6 percent.

While keeping U.S. rates low for longer than previously expected would be positive for gold, “greater risk appetite and low inflation is likely to keep bullion weak in the near term,” James Steel, an analyst at HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., said in a report. Gold was “weighed down by a rally in global equities and a stronger U.S. dollar,” he said.

Gold for December delivery added 0.3 percent to $1,232.90 an ounce by 7:36 a.m. on the Comex in New York. Prices reached $1,226.30 yesterday, the lowest since Oct. 15, and fell 0.5 percent this week. Gold for immediate delivery was little changed at $1,232.73 in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing.

Futures trading volume was 16 percent below the average for the past 100 days for this time of day, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

European equities declined after reaching a two-week high yesterday. A New York City doctor tested positive for Ebola after returning from aid work in West Africa. Separately, Mali confirmed its first case of Ebola, becoming the sixth African country to report the disease. The virus has infected about 10,000 people in West Africa, killing half of them.

Silver for delivery in December rose 0.4 percent to $17.235 an ounce in New York. Platinum for January delivery added 0.2 percent to $1,257 an ounce. Palladium for December delivery gained 0.7 percent to $785 an ounce. It’s up 3.7 percent this week.

Source:  Bloomberg