(Kitco News) - The gold market is trading near session highs above $5,110 per ounce after the latest economic data showed sales of durable goods in December disappointed with a flat reading.
The Commerce Department announced Friday that U.S. durable goods orders were unchanged at 0.0% in January, following December’s unrevised decrease of -1.4%. The data was worse than expected, as the consensus view of economists called for an increase of 1.2%.
Core durable goods, which strip out the volatile transportation sector, rose 0.4% in January, below the consensus forecast for a 0.5% reading and December’s revised core print of 1.3%.
Meanwhile, non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft manufacturing posted a 0.0% print in January, worse than the expectation for a 0.5% increase and December’s unrevised 0.6% print.
Spot gold continued to trade near session highs following the 8:30 am EDT release, and last traded at $5,114.18 per ounce for a gain of 0.69% on the session.
