Gold Ends At Near $1,250 On Upbeat U.S. Data

(RTTNews) - Gold futures ended lower for a second straight session Tuesday, tracking rising global equity markets after investors turned to the riskier asset after some upbeat consumer confidence data boosted sentiments. Although the precious metal briefly found support with some weak durable goods data from the U.S., markets continue to expect a further cut to the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program at the end of its two-day policy meet.

In some encouraging economic news, consumer confidence in the U.S. improved for a second consecutive month, with the index rising more than expected in January, a Conference Board report showed Tuesday.

Meanwhile, home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas rose slightly more than expected in November, a report released by Standard & Poor's said Tuesday.

Nonetheless, new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods unexpectedly dropped in December, with transportation equipment orders showing a substantial decrease, the Commerce Department said.

Gold for February delivery, the most actively traded contract, shed $12.60 or 1.0 percent to close at $1,2250.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday.

Gold for February delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,262.30 and a low of $1,248.20 an ounce.

Yesterday, gold snapped a three-day gain to end lower as investor awaited the outcome of the two-day U.S. Federal Reserve policy meet beginning Tuesday, for cues on the quantitative easing program.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, remained unchanged at 790.46 tons.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 80.63 on Tuesday up from its previous close of 80.50 late Monday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 80.76 intraday and a low of 80.39.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3656 on Tuesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3673 late Monday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3688 intraday and a low of $1.3630.

In economic news from the U.S, the Commerce Department said durable goods orders tumbled by 4.3 percent in December following a revised 2.6 percent increase in November. The drop in orders came as a surprise to economists, who had expected orders to increase by about 1.8 percent compared to the 3.4 percent growth that had been reported for the previous month.

Consumer confidence in the U.S. improved for the second consecutive month in January, with the index climbing to 80.7 in January from a downwardly revised 77.5 in December, rising more than expected, a report from the Conference Board showed Tuesday. Economists expected the index to edge up to 79.0 from the 78.1 originally reported for the previous month.

Home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas rose slightly more than expected in November, a report from Standard & Poor's showed Tuesday. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index rose 0.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in November compared to a 1.1 percent increase in October. Economist expected the index to increase by 0.8 percent. However, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the 20-City Composite Home Price Index edged down 0.1 percent in November after inching up 0.2 percent in the previous month.

From the eurozone, Germany's import prices dropped for a twelfth successive month in December, but at a weaker rate than in the previous month, data from the Federal Statistical Office revealed. The import price index dropped 2.3 percent in December from the corresponding month of 2012. This followed a 2.9 percent fall in November. Prices have now fallen regularly since December 2012. Economists had forecast a slower decline of 2.2 percent for December 2013.

Elsewhere, the U.K. economy expanded as expected by economists in the fourth quarter, but the rate of expansion slowed marginally, preliminary estimate from the Office for National Statistics showed. Gross domestic product grew 0.7 percent from the prior quarter, when it grew 0.8 percent. The fourth quarter rate matched economists' expectations.