Steady finish for bullions

Prices find some support from a decline in U.S. consumer confidence and weakness in the dollar

It was a steady finish for bullions on Tuesday, 26 November 2013. Comex gold futures prices ended the U.S. day session near steady, while the spot gold market was weaker in afternoon trading Tuesday. Selling pressure in both gold and silver was limited by a weaker U.S. dollar index. Prices found some support from a decline in U.S. consumer confidence and weakness in the dollar.

Gold for February delivery fell 10 cents to settle at $1,241.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. December gold settled at $1,241.40 an ounce, up 20 cents.

March silver shed 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $19.89 an ounce.

Some better U.S. home sales and building permits data issued Tuesday morning helped to press the gold market down from its daily high. It was a quiet and uneventful market place on Tuesday. Trading activity and market volumes may continue to dwindle as the week progresses, due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.

A major bearish underlying factor for gold and other asset classes the past several months has been the record-setting bull run in the U.S. stock market. With investor monies continuing to flow at a heavy rate into U.S. equities (and other world stock markets, too) it leaves a void of money moving into other asset classes, including gold.

Among economic data expected for the day at Wall Street, building permit issuances increased in both September and October. Permits rose from 926,000 in August to 974,000 in September and 1.034 million in October. The consensus expected 932,000 building permit issuances for both September and October.

Separately, the November Consumer Confidence Index fell to 70.4 from an upwardly revised 72.4 (from 71.2) in October. The consensus pegged the index at 72.4. Confidence in October plummeted as concerns about the economy following the government shutdown weighed heavily on the minds of consumers.

Also of note, the September Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index rose 13.3% while a 13.0% increase had been expected by the consensus. This follows the previous month's revised increase of 12.8%. The September Housing Price Index from the FHFA increased 0.3%, which followed an uptick of 0.4% observed during the prior month.

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