(Kitco News) - Gold prices remain under pressure near session lows following mixed U.S. retail sales.
U.S. retail sales were unchanged last month following an upwardly revised drop of 0.4% in August, according to the latest data from the U.S. Commerce Department. Economists were expecting to see a rise of 0.2% in last month's headline number.
The report said retail sales are up 8.2% for the year.
Meanwhile, core retail sales increased 0.1% last month, beating expectations. According to Consensus estimates, economists were looking for a 0.1% drop.
The report's control group, which strips out autos, gas, building materials, and food services, increased by 0.4%, beating expectations of a 0.3% gain.
The gold market is not seeing much reaction to the latest economic report as it continues to see solid selling pressure. December gold futures last traded at $1,659.70 an ounce, down 1% on the day.
Wednesday's hotter-than-expected inflation data continues to weigh on gold heading into the weekend as markets expect the Federal Reserve to aggressively tighten its monetary policies to cool down rising consumer prices.
The latest consumption data shows that the U.S. economy is losing momentum, but economists note that it won't be enough to slow the pace of interest rate hikes. Markets have fully priced in a 75 basis point move at next month's monetary policy meeting.
"While this report is mixed, the Fed will put much more weight on yesterday’s CPI release when deciding on the rate path. As a result, the Fed is now likely to raise rates by 75 bps in November and could be on its way to a higher terminal point than previously thought," said Katherine Judge, senior economist at CIBC.
