(Kitco News) - The gold market is holding near session highs after the latest economic data showed activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector beating expectations across the board in February.
The Commerce Department announced on Tuesday that U.S. durable goods orders increased 1.4% last month, following January’s downwardly revised 6.9% decline. The data was better than expected as economists were looking for a 1.1% increase.
Core durable goods, which strips out the volatile transportation sector, rose 0.5% in February, also better than the consensus forecast for a 0.4% increase. January’s core print was unrevised at 0.3%.
Meanwhile, non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft manufacturing increased 0.7%, much better than the expectation for a 0.1% rise, while January’s positive 0.1% print was revised downward to -0.4%.
The gold market saw little change following the better-than-expected economic data, with spot gold last trading at $2,193.24 per ounce, up 1.00% on the session and not far from the daily high of $2,200.17 set just before 7 am EST.
