(Kitco News) - Gold continues to hold the line around $4,300 an ounce but could continue to face some headwinds as the U.S. manufacturing sector remains fairly resilient.
The Commerce Department announced Friday that U.S. durable goods orders were virtually unchanged in August, following July’s revised increase of 0.9%. The data was slightly stronger than expected, as the consensus view among economists called for a decline of 0.3%.
However, core durable goods orders, which strip out the volatile transportation sector, rose 0.3% last month, compared to July’s increase of 0.4%. According to consensus estimates, economists were expecting a 0.4% increase.
Meanwhile, non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft rose 1.6% in August, well above expectations for a 0.5% increase.
“The headline here is flat, but the core orders matter much more for the underlying direction of the economy, and that's a great number that helps to back up the bullish view on the economy,” said Adam Button, head of currency strategy at investingLive.
The gold market is not seeing any major reaction to the latest economic data. Spot gold last traded at $4,298.70 an ounce, up 0.60% on the day.
Some analysts note that gold could still struggle, as the latest manufacturing data gives the Federal Reserve more room to continue tightening interest rates to deal with the persistent inflation threat.
