Bullion shine at the start of CY 2014

Prices rise despite a strong dollar index

Bullion prices climbed on Thursday, 02 January 2014. Gold futures on Thursday jumped by nearly $23 an ounce while silver prices led percentage gains among the precious metals following reports of physical buyers looking for bargains after the metals suffered their worst year of trading in decades. Gold opened the New Year on a stronger note on Thursday with the help of index rebalancing, a softer tone in equities and more short covering. Prices rose despite a strong dollar index.

Gold for February delivery rose by $22.90, or 1.9%, to settle at $1,225.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Silver for March delivery gained 76 cents, or 3.9%, to end at $20.13 an ounce.

Gold fell 28% for 2013 as a whole, while silver logged a 36% decline, measured by the continuous contract, and both performances were the worst since at least 1984.

Today's economic data was limited to three reports, but neither had much of a trading impact. Weekly initial claims dipped to 339,000 from an upwardly revised 341,000 (from 338,000) while the consensus estimate was pegged at 333,000. Notably, there was no indication from the Department of Labor that seasonal adjustments continued creating difficulties.

Construction spending in November rose 1.0% while the consensus expected an increase of 0.8%. The November gain followed an upwardly revised 0.9% increase (from 0.8%) in October. Total private construction, paced by a 1.9% increase in residential spending, was up 2.2% and led the overall advance. Nonresidential private spending jumped 2.7%, paced by gains in the commercial (+4.7%), office (+4.6%), power (+3.3%), and manufacturing (+1.2%) spaces.

Separately, the December ISM Index checked in at 57.0, which was pretty much in-line with the consensus estimate of 56.9. The December reading was the second highest reading for the year, trailing only the 57.3 reading seen in November.

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