Gold futures edged up during the US session as USD index fell to its lowest level since July 31, according to the latest economic developments and data followed Wednesday by the US economy, the world’s largest economy.
Gold futures for December delivery rose 0.42% to currently trade at $ 1,207.90 per ounce from the opening price of $ 1,202.90 per ounce. The US dollar index fell 0.05% to 94.59. Its lowest in seven weeks compared to the opening at 94.64.
The US housing market data showed a rise in construction starts and a decline in building permits in the US in August. The Construction Starts Index showed a rise of 9.2% to 1,282 homes compared to a decline of 0.3% at 1,174K Home in July, surpassing expectations of a 5.7% rise at 1,238,000 homes.
In the same context, building permits decreased by 5.7% to 1.229 thousand last month, compared to a rise of 0.9% at 1,303 thousand in July, in contrast to the expectations of a rise of 0.5% at 1,310 thousand permits, in conjunction with the issuance of a reading The current account, which showed a contraction of the deficit to $ 101 billion versus $ 122 billion in the first quarter last year, surpassed expectations of a $ 104 billion deficit.
This comes hours after US President Donald Trump’s remarks on Tuesday over the new 10% tariff imposed this week on US imports from China worth $ 200 billion, which will come into effect on 24 this month and will rise to 25% with the beginning Next year, in which he said that China can not be allowed to exploit America, adding that an agreement could be reached at some point.
US President Trump said yesterday that his administration would remain willing to negotiate with China and that there would be more tariffs if China targeted agriculture and industry. He said that his country had a huge impact on China. President Trump said in advance that if China responded to the cartoons The new tariff will impose immediate duties on Chinese goods estimated at $ 267 billion.
On the other hand, China responded yesterday by imposing new customs tariffs between 5% and 10% on US imports worth $ 60 billion, after Beijing filed a complaint to the World Trade Organization about the recent US administration procedures, and we would like to point out that this is not the first time that China As it has recently filed for trade sanctions against Washington for violating international trade rules and breaching the terms of trade disputes.
World Gold Council disclosed last month its forecast for higher demand for the yellow metal in the second half of 2018, citing high inflation and the possible impact of the potential trade war and its impact on currencies. Global trade tensions, but gold did not rise during the first half of this year due to strength of the US dollar.
The strength of the greenback is due to growing market expectations for a faster rate hike in federal funds this year following the strength of US economic data. The Council noted that demand for the yellow metal is likely to rise in the second half of the year with The tendency to use gold as a tool to hedge inflation, in addition to the recent decline in prices support the increasing demand for gold.