(Kitco News) - The gold market is trading near session lows after the latest economic data showed sales of durable goods for August rose far more than expected.
The Commerce Department announced Thursday that U.S. durable goods orders rose 2.9% last month, following July’s revised decrease of -2.7%. The data was much better than expected, as the consensus view of economists called for a decline of -0.5.
Core durable goods, which strip out the volatile transportation sector, rose 0.4% in August, above the consensus forecast for a flat 0.0% reading but below July’s core print of 1.1%.
Meanwhile, non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft manufacturing rose 0.6% in July, better than the expectation for a -0.1% decrease but below June’s revised 0.8% print.
Spot gold fell sharply to near session lows following the 8:30 am EDT release, and last traded at $3,737.68 per ounce for a slight gain of 0.04% on the session.
