(Kitco News) - The gold market is seeing some technical selling pressure but continues to hold support around $1,750 an ounce as activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector was relatilvey flat in July, in line with expectations.
Wednesday, the Commerce Department said that U.S. durable-goods orders were virtually unchanged last month. The data was weaker than expected as economists were forecasting a 0.9% rise in July, following a 2% increase in June.
The report said that this was the first increase in durable goods orders after four months of straight declines.
However, excluding the volatile transportation, new orders increase 0.3% the government said. Core durable goods orders rose in line with expectation.
The gold market is not seeing much movement following the latest economic report. December gold last traded at $1,756.70 an ounce, down 0.26% on the da
Some market analysts note that unfilled orders has risen for nearly every month for the last two years and this backlog should continue to support manufacturing activity.
Although the data was roughly flat, it has been more positive compared to recent sentiment survey. Wednesday, S&P Global Market Intelligence said that its preliminary manufacturing sector PMI dropped to a more than two-year low in August.
The report said that activity in the manufacturing sector fell at the fastest pace in the survey’s 13-year history, excluding the sharp drop report at the start of the pandemic in 2020.
