(Kitco News) Gold edged down after the newly released data showed that orders for long-lasting U.S. factory goods were up 5.6% in December versus the expected gain of just 2.5%.
Meanwhile, November's data was revised up to a drop of 1.7%.
The monthly increase in durable goods orders was $15.3 billion and was largely driven by transportation equipment, which was up four of the last five months, the U.S. Census Bureau said in the report.
The core durable goods section, which excludes the volatile transportation sector, surprised slightly on the upside, but still fell 0.1% versus the expected drop of 0.2%. Excluding defense, new orders rose 6.3%.
The government’s durables report covers items with an expected life of at least three years, such as kitchen appliances, computers, furniture, autos and airplanes. Economists carefully watch the data for any changes as a sign of where the economy might be heading.
Analysts noted that the transportation sector was the only one doing all the work, while other sectors looked discouraging. “The bigger-than-expected 5.6% m/m jump in durable goods orders in December was almost entirely due to a bumper month for bookings at Boeing, with notoriously volatile non-defence aircraft orders up 115.5% m/m,” said Capital Economics senior U.S. economist Andrew Hunter. “Alongside the already-reported falls in production of business equipment, that's another signal that higher interest rates are increasingly weighing on business investment.”
Gold fell slightly after the release but managed to quickly gain back some of its immediate losses. February Comex gold futures were last trading at $1,934 an ounce, down 0.44% on the day.
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