Gold Prices Ignore 9.3% Drop In New Home Sales
(Kitco News)- Technical profit taking is weighing on gold prices, as themarket ignores a more than 9% drop in new home sales.
Tuesday,the U.S. Commerce Department said that new home sales fell 9.3% in December,to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 625,000 homes, down from November'srevised rate of 689,000 units. According to consensus forecasts,economists were expecting to see a sales rate of 679,000 units.
However,annual, new home sales are up 14.1% from December 2016.
Investorsare ignoring economic data and instead focusing on volatility in currencymarkets. Gold prices are modestly down on the day, but are holding near a1.5-year high as the U.S. Dollar Index pushes off lows not seen in more thanthree years. February gold futures last traded at $1,355.40 an ounce, down0.07% on the day.
Lookingat prices, the commerce department said that the median sales prices of newhomes sold last month was $335,400; at the same time the average salesprice was $398,900.
By Neils ChristensenFor Kitco News
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