Second straight day of gains for bullions

Gold marks its highest settlement in more than a week

Gold prices rallied for a second straight session on Thursday, 26 February 2015 at Comex to mark their highest settlement in more than a week. Gold prices ended the U.S. day session with modest gains on Thursday, but well down from highs seen early in the session. Traders tried to get cues between forcesa sharply higher U.S. dollar index and sharply lower crude oil prices. Economic data in the U.S. were mixed Thursday. Weekly jobless claims rose more than expected and January consumer prices tumbled, while the rise in durable-goods orders came in higher than was forecast

Gold for April delivery rose $8.60,or 0.7%, to settle at $1,210.10 an ounce on Comex.

May silver also tacked on 15 cents, or 0.9%, to end at $16.624 an ounce.

Economic data included Initial Claims, CPI, Durable Orders, and FHFA Housing Price Index. The initial claims level increased to 313,000 from an upwardly revised 282,000 (from 281,000) while the consensus expected an increase to 290,000. The Department of Labor reported that there weren't any special factors impacting the initial claims level.

The CPI index declined 0.7% in January after declining an upwardly revised 0.3% (from 0.4%) in December while the consensus expected a decline of 0.6%. As expected, a large drop in gasoline prices was the primary catalyst for the decline in consumer prices. Gasoline costs fell 18.7% in January after declining 9.2% in December. The resulting gasoline decline caused overall energy prices to fall 9.7% in January. Excluding food and energy, core CPI increased 0.2% in January after increasing 0.1% in December while the consensus expected an increase of 0.1%.

Durable goods orders increased 2.8% in January after declining a downwardly revised 3.7% (from 3.3%) in December while the consensus expected an increase of 1.7%.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News