Gold Remains Soft After U.S. Oct. Consumer Confidence Index Rises To 137.9
Editor's Note: Updating earlier story with more details from report.
(Kitco News) - Gold prices remained onthe defensive after a Conference Board report Tuesday showing that its Octoberindex for U.S. consumer confidence rose to 137.9 from a revised Septemberreading of 135.3.
Consensus expectationsfrom most news organizations called for a reading of around 136.3 to 136.4. TheSeptember reading had originally been listed at 138.4 before Tuesday’srevision.
The index for the present situation, which isbased on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor-market conditions,improved to 172.8 from 169.4. The expectations index, which is based onconsumers’ short-term outlook for income, business and labor-market conditions,rose to 114.6 from 112.5 last month.
“Consumer confidence increased in October,following a modest gain in September, and remains at levels last seen in thefall of 2000...,” said Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at TheConference Board.
“Consumers’ assessment of present-day conditionsremains quite positive, primarily due to strong employment growth. Theexpectations index posted another gain in October, suggesting that consumers donot foresee the economy losing steam anytime soon. Rather, they expect thestrong pace of growth to carry over into early 2019.”
As of 10:09 a.m. EDT, spotgold was $4 lower to $1,224.60 an ounce. Two minutes prior to the report, gold hadbeen at $1,224.90 an ounce.
By Allen SykoraFor Kitco News
Follow @AllenSykora
asykora@kitco.com Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.