Gold Price Pauses After Recent Wins

New York (July 21)  Gold futures barely budged Wednesday as US housing starts rebounded by more than expected in the month of June.

At last check, gold was unchanged at USD1242 an ounce, holding recent gains in quiet dealing.

The Commerce Department said housing starts surged up by 8.3% to an annual rate of 1.215 million in June from the revised May estimate of 1.122 million.

Economists had expected housing starts to rise to a rate of 1.155 million from the 1.092 million originally reported for the previous month.

However, homebuilder confidence in the US unexpectedly declined in the month of July, according to a report released by the National Association of Home Builders on Tuesday.

The European Central Bank is widely expected to keep all its three interest rates unchanged for an eleventh consecutive policy session on Thursday, and retain its asset purchases that are set to run until the end of the year.

Source: RTTnews