Precious metals end higher

Downbeat U.S. economic data give precious metals a lift

Bullion metals ended higher on Wednesday, 25 June 2014. Some downbeat U.S. economic data gave the gold market a lift from the lower levels seen in overnight trading. Gold futures marked a sixth straight session gain on Wednesday as the dollar weakened on news that the U.S. economy shrank much more than previously expected in the first quarter.

Gold for August delivery tacked on $1.30, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,322.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

July silver closed up 7 cents, or 0.4%, at $21.12 an ounce.

Economic data included Q1 GDP, May Durable Orders, and the weekly MBA Mortgage Index. The first quarter U.S. gross domestic product report was released Wednesday morning and showed a drop of 2.9%, which was the largest quarterly decline in years. Also, U.S. durable goods orders fell by 1.0% in May after increasing an upwardly revised 0.8% (from 0.6%) in April. The consensus expected durable goods orders to increase 0.4%. The weekly MBA Mortgage Index fell 1.0% to follow last week's 9.2% decline.

There were no major developments on the world market place overnight. The civil war in Iraq remains an important market element. The Russia-Ukraine civil unrest is still simmering in the background.

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