Gold has posted slight gains in the Wednesday session. In the North American trade, the spot price for one ounce of gold is $1204.39, up 0.26% on the day. On the release front, Preliminary GDP jumped 4.2%, beating the estimate of 4.1%. Pending Home Sales disappointed with a reading of -0.7%, well off the estimate of 0.3%. On Thursday, the U.S publishes personal spending and unemployment claims.
It’s full speed ahead for the U.S economy, which posted excellent growth in the second quarter. Preliminary GDP for Q2 was revised upwards to 4.2%, edging above the estimate of 4.0%. This reading was above the initial GDP release of 4.1% back in July. Growth in the second quarter was much stronger than in Q1, which posted a gain of 2.2%. Will the strong data continue in the third quarter? Consumer spending has been strong early in the quarter, but housing data has disappointed, with recent key indicators missing expectations. Although the GDP release beat the estimate, investors the US dollar failed to gain ground, and gold has held its own on Wednesday.
It has been a rough road for gold, which has shed 8.6% of its value since April 1. Months of escalating trade tensions and tit-for-tat tariffs between the U.S and China rocked risk appetite, as the U.S dollar has made strong gains at the expense of other major currencies. Even though gold is a safe-haven asset, it failed to benefit from nervous investors, who flocked to the U.S dollar. A booming U.S economy has also contributed to a strong greenback and weighted on gold prices.
