Gold Price Ends Marginally Higher

New York (Oct 16)  Gold futures settled slightly higher on Tuesday, as the dollar stayed sluggish against some major currencies, ahead of the releae of the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's September meeting.

It appears uncertainty about near term global economic growth and geopolitical worries prompted traders to pick up the yellow metal.

Gold futures for December ended USD0.70, or about 0.06%, at USD1,231.00 an ounce. On Monday, gold futures ended up USD8.30, or 0.7%, at USD1,230.30 an ounce.

Silver futures for December settled at USD14.701 an ounce, losing USD0.026 for the session.

Copper futures for December ended down USD0.0090, at USD2.7795, per pound.

Despite rising geopolitical worries after the disappearance of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the subsequent spat between the US and Saudi Arabia, stock markets are moving higher, due largely to some better than expected earnings from some top companies, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

In economic news, a report from the Federal Reserve showed that industrial production increased in line with economist estimates in September.

The report said industrial production rose by 0.3% in September after climbing by 0.4% in August. The continued increase in production matched expectations.

The Fed said output growth in September was held down slightly by Hurricane Florence but noted the estimated negative effect was less than 0.1 percentage points.

Data released by the National Association of Home Builders showed an unexpected uptick in homebuilder confidence in the month of October. The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index inched up to 68 in October from 67 in September. Economists had expected the index to come in unchanged.

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