Gold Unchanged Ahead of US Housing Numbers

Gold is showing little movement on Monday, as XAU/USD trades slightly below the $1200 level. In the European session, the spot price stands at $1195.94. It could be a quiet week for gold ahead of the Christmas holiday. On the release front, today’s sole event is US Existing Home Sales. The markets are expecting the indicator to soften in November, with an estimate of 5.21 million.

In the US, employment numbers continued to impress last week, as unemployment claims dropped to 289 thousand, the lowest level in six weeks. The easily beat the estimate of 297 thousand. The news was not as good on the manufacturing front, as the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index slid to 24.5 points, down from 40.6 points in November. The November reading was unusually high, and the markets had expected a sharp downturn, with the estimate standing at 26.3 points.

Previous Fed policy statements have usually stated that the Fed would maintain low rates for a “considerable time”, but the December statement changed terminology, saying the Fed would be “patient” before raising rates. In a follow-press conference, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen was less ambiguous, saying that the Fed was unlikely to raise rates for the “next couple of meetings”. The markets took this to mean that a rate hike is in the works, but not before April. Gold prices remained steady after the Fed statement, but as an interest rate hike by mid-2015 seems likely, there is room for the dollar to make gains against gold.

XAU/USD 1195.94 H: 1203.36 L: 1194.80