Gold Steady After Surprise Drop in US Empire Manufacturing Survey

July 17, 2017 Share Print 0

Gold prices are relatively unchanged, holding on to their overnight gains following a surprising drop in sentiment in the New York manufacturing sector.

Monday, the New York Federal Reserve said the general business conditions index in its Empire State manufacturing survey fell to a reading of 9.8 in July, following June’s reading of 19.8. Economists were expecting to see a reading of 15.2.

The decline in the New York manufacturing data comes a month after the survey hit its highest point in two years.

Gold prices were solidly higher ahead of the report as markets continued to digest Friday’s weak retail sales numbers and inflation data. The regional manufacturing data has had little impact on the market’s renewed momentum; August gold prices last traded at $1,233.50 an ounce, up 0.49% on the day.

Despite continued growth in the sector, the report noted weaker sentiment across the board. Looking at the components of the report, the New Orders Index dropped to a reading of 13.3, down from the previous level of 18.1; at the same time the Shipments Index dropped to 10.5 from June’s reading of 22.3.

via Kitco

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Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse

Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.