(Kitco News) - Mixed U.S. manufacturing data is not able to provide any significant bullish momentum for the gold market as the precious metal tries to attract new attention after falling to a nine-week low overnight.
Monday, the Commerce Department said that U.S. durable goods orders fell 4.5% last month, down from January's increase of 5.6%. The data was worse than expected; consensus expectations compiled by various news organizations called for durables to fall 3.7%.
However, stripping out the volatile transportation sector, core durable goods orders increased 0.7%, up from the previous decline of 0.2%. The data beat expectations as economists looked for a 0.1% increase.
At the same time, capital goods orders non-defense, excluding aircraft orders, increased 0.8%, beating expectations for a 0.1% increase.
According to some economists, the better-than-expected core data could help relieve fears that the U.S. is headed toward a recession.
"The line on capital goods orders non-defense ex-air is the one that matters and it's a good forward-looking sign for manufacturing," said Adam Button, head of currency strategy at Forexlive.com.
The gold market is not seeing much reaction to the latest economic data as the market sees some technical buying and bargain hunting after prices dropped to a nine-week low Sunday night. April gold futures last traded at $1,820 an ounce, up 0.20% on the day.
