Dull day for bullions

Gold and silver register healthy gains on a monthly basis

Gold futures closed lower on Friday, 30 August 2013 amid fading expectations for imminent military action against Syria, though the metal posted a more than 6% gain for the month.

Gold for December delivery lost $16.80, or 1.2%, to settle at $1,396.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices saw a third consecutive session of declines. For the month, gold gained 6%.

Silver was also hit Friday, with December futures off 63 cents, or 2.6%, to $23.51 an ounce. Tracking the most-active contracts, prices were down about 1% for the week, but jumped 20% for the month.

Reviewing Friday's economic data, personal income increased 0.1% in July, down from a 0.3% increase in June and exactly what the consensus expected. Employee compensation fell 0.2% as wages and salaries declined by 0.3%. That pullback was in-line with the July employment report, which showed aggregate earnings down 0.3% in July. The drop in compensation was offset by a 0.7% increase in receipts on assets, which was primarily driven by equity gains.

Spending levels were weak. Consumption grew 0.1% in July after increasing an upwardly revised 0.6% (from 0.5%) in June. The consensus expected personal spending to increase 0.3%.

The Chicago PMI increased to 53.0 in August from 51.6 in July. That was exactly what the consensus expected. Production levels weakened slightly as the index fell from 53.6 in July to 53.0 in August. The drop in production, however, was not related to a pullback in orders. New orders increased in August to 57.2, which is the highest level since May. Order backlogs remained in contraction for a third consecutive month, but improved from 42.9 in July to 46.5 in August.

Lastly, consumer sentiment was revised up to 82.1 in the final reading of the August University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index from 80.0 in the preliminary reading. The upward revision still leaves sentiment below the 85.1 reading in July. The consensus expected the Consumer Sentiment Index to remain at 80.0.

Regular trading on Comex will resume on Tuesday, 03 September 2013 following Monday's Labor Day holiday.

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