Investing.com - Gold futures traded slightly higher in the early part of Monday’s Asian session as traders are looking for the yellow metal to build on last week’s 1.25% increase, its best weekly run in about two months.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gold futures for February delivery rose 0.09% to USD1,688.55 per troy ounce in Asian trading Monday. Gold prices were likely to find support at USD1,647.05 a troy ounce, the low from January 8 and near-term resistance at USD1,704.35,the high of December 18.
Gold prices tumbled 0.4% in last Friday’s U.S. session after traders glossed a spate of encouraging Chinese economic data points to focus more on concerning news out of the U.S. and the Eurozone.
In U.S. economic news, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan initial index of consumer sentiment for January fell to 71.3 from 72.9. Economists expected a preliminary reading of 75. The initial January reading is the lowest since December 2011.
Following downbeat news about Germany’s 2013 economic outlook earlier in the week, the Bank of Italy said Friday that the country’s economy would contract by 1% in 2013. Italy, the Eurozone’s third-largest economy and one of the world’s largest gold consumers, is already mired in a recession.
Meanwhile, traders could be bracing for the start of the Chinese new year next month, which could lead to higher gold prices as jewelers stock up on the yellow metal in anticipation of holiday-related demand. Additionally, some press reports out of Asia over the weekend noted India could increase its import duty on gold to 6% this year. That could stoke near-term buying as Indians look to stock up on gold ahead of the potential tax hike. India and China are the two largest gold consumers in the world.
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery climbed 0.37% to USD32.05 per ounce. Last week, investors poured more than USD600 million into the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV), a silver-backed ETF, sending the fund higher by 4.5%. Copper for March delivery fell 0.06% to USD3.674 per ounce.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gold futures for February delivery rose 0.09% to USD1,688.55 per troy ounce in Asian trading Monday. Gold prices were likely to find support at USD1,647.05 a troy ounce, the low from January 8 and near-term resistance at USD1,704.35,the high of December 18.
Gold prices tumbled 0.4% in last Friday’s U.S. session after traders glossed a spate of encouraging Chinese economic data points to focus more on concerning news out of the U.S. and the Eurozone.
In U.S. economic news, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan initial index of consumer sentiment for January fell to 71.3 from 72.9. Economists expected a preliminary reading of 75. The initial January reading is the lowest since December 2011.
Following downbeat news about Germany’s 2013 economic outlook earlier in the week, the Bank of Italy said Friday that the country’s economy would contract by 1% in 2013. Italy, the Eurozone’s third-largest economy and one of the world’s largest gold consumers, is already mired in a recession.
Meanwhile, traders could be bracing for the start of the Chinese new year next month, which could lead to higher gold prices as jewelers stock up on the yellow metal in anticipation of holiday-related demand. Additionally, some press reports out of Asia over the weekend noted India could increase its import duty on gold to 6% this year. That could stoke near-term buying as Indians look to stock up on gold ahead of the potential tax hike. India and China are the two largest gold consumers in the world.
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery climbed 0.37% to USD32.05 per ounce. Last week, investors poured more than USD600 million into the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV), a silver-backed ETF, sending the fund higher by 4.5%. Copper for March delivery fell 0.06% to USD3.674 per ounce.