Gold Ends A Tad Higher On Mixed Data

(RTTNews) - Gold futures ended slightly higher on Tuesday, after some mixed economic data out of the U.S., with new home sales declining and home prices in major metropolitan areas also dropping in January. Nonetheless, the gains were limited with consumer confidence rising more than expected in March.

A Commerce Department report showed new home sales in the U.S. pulled back in February, while a Standard & Poor's report revealed home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas to have dipped in January. Meanwhile, consumer confidence in the U.S. has improved more than expected in March, reaching its highest level since January 2008.

Gold for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, moved up $0.20 to close at $1,311.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday.

Gold for April delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,318.00 and a low of $1,306.00 an ounce.

Yesterday, gold futures plunged to end at a more than five-week low as markets weighed comments from the Fed Reserve the central bank could raise interest rates early next year.

Gold was down 3 percent last week after Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen hinted that a rate hike may be on the cards next Spring.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose to 821.47 tons from its previous close of 816.97 tons on Monday.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 79.88 on Monday, down from its previous close of 79.94 late Monday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 80.27 intraday and a low of 79.88.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3831 on Tuesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3839 late Monday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3850 intraday and a low of $1.3750.

In economic news from the U.S., the 20-City Composite Home Price Index showed home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas on a non-seasonally adjusted basis edged down by 0.1 percent in January, matching the decrease seen in the previous month.

The 20-City Composite Home Price Index increased at an annual rate of 13.2 percent in January compared to the 13.4 percent growth seen in December. The index had been expected to rise by 13.3 percent year-over-year.

However, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index rose more than expected in January by 0.8 percent, following a 0.7 percent increase in December, a report from Standard & Poor's showed Tuesday. Economists expected an increase of 0.7 percent.

A Commerce Department report said new home sales in the U.S. fell 3.3 percent to an annual rate of 440,000 in February from the revised January rate of 455,000. Economists expected new home sales to drop 6 percent.

Meanwhile, the Conference Board said consumer confidence in the U.S. has improved much more than expected in March, jumping to 82.3 from a revised 78.3 in February, reflecting a rebound in expectations for the short-term outlook. This is the highest level the consumer confidence index has reached since January 2008. Economists expected the index to edge up to 78.4 from the 78.1 originally reported for the previous month.

From Europe, business confidence in Germany weakened for the first time in five months in March, as firms were worried about the impact of the European Union economic sanctions against Russia in the wake of the Crimean crisis. The business climate index for industry and trade dropped to 110.7 from February's 111.3, the Munich-based Ifo Institute said Tuesday. This was lower than economists' forecast of 110.9 and fell for the first since October.

Inflation in the U.K. dropped to a four-year low on lower transport prices in February, easing the squeeze on consumers' purchasing power, official data revealed Tuesday. Consumer prices rose 1.7 percent year-on-year, which was the least since October 2009, after increasing 1.9 percent in January, the Office for National Statistics said. This was the fifth monthly slowing in inflation and came in line with economists' expectations.