Forexpros – Gold prices dipped up and down in Asian trading Thursday as investors searched for a weather vane, eventually finding a largely bearish one pointing to weak housing data as a reason to short the metal and go long on the dollar although in an erratic manner.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery traded down 0.04% at USD1,649.65 a troy ounce, jumping in and out of positive territory.
Gold futures were likely to test support at USD1,639.75 a troy ounce, Friday’s low, and resistance at USD1,682.75, last Wednesday’s high.
In the U.S., the National Association of Realtors reported that total existing-home sales slipped 0.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.59 million in February, from an upwardly revised 4.63 million in January but a little weaker than expected.
The news eventually sent investors selling stocks and buying dollars, which sent gold largely falling, as the two asset classes often trade inversely from one another.
Since housing figures were lukewarm as opposed to disappointing, some market participants concluded the Federal Reserve will be even less likely to jolt the economy with easing measures that would weaken the dollar, which sparked some demand for greenbacks and less for gold.
No huge changes in demand for physical gold kept prices choppy as well.
Meanwhile in Europe, Greek Deputy Finance Minister Filippos Sachinidis was sworn in as the country’s new finance minister, while Athens repaid EUR14.5 billion in maturing debt fresh on the heels of receiving a first tranche of aid.
Germany and Portugal sold bonds at auction at terms that kept markets calm.
However, U.S. housing data held sway and sent the dollar rising and the euro falling, which sent gold wandering lower.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for May delivery was down 0.11% and trading at USD32.190 a troy ounce, while copper for May delivery was up 0.14% and trading at USD3.842 a pound.
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