Bullion prices ended higher at Comex on Friday, 15 March 2019. Gold futures climbed on Friday to score a gain for the week, with the metal finding support in the wake of mass shootings at two mosques in New Zealand, as well as from a weaker tone for the U.S. dollar. On Friday, gold for April delivery on Comex rose $7.80, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,302.90 an ounce, with prices logging a weekly rise of 0.3%. May silver also rose 15.3 cents, or 1%, to $15.324 an ounce, though still ending about 0.2% lower on the week. Gold also appeared to get a boost from renewed optimism over prospects for a U.S.-China trade deal. A weaker tone for the U.S. dollar was also seen as a boon for gold bulls. The ICE U.S. Dollar, a measure of the U.S. currency against a basket of six major rivals, was off 0.2% at 96.566 and on track for a weekly decline of 0.8%. A weaker dollar can be supportive for commodities priced in the unit, making them cheaper to users of other currencies. Reviewing Friday's batch of economic data, Industrial production increased just 0.1% in February (consensus +0.4%) on the heels of an upwardly revised 0.4% decline (from -0.6%) in January. The capacity utilization rate dipped to 78.2% (consensus 78.5%) from an upwardly revised 78.3% (from 78.2%) in January.The key takeaway from the report is that manufacturing output remained weak, declining 0.4%, which was the second consecutive monthly decline. The preliminary March reading for the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment checked in at 97.8 (consensus 94.9), up from the final reading of 93.8 for February. The key takeaway from the report is that real income expectations, which account for inflation, increased in households across lower, middle, and upper incomes. That favorable outlook is supportive for consumer spending activity. Separately, the January Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that job openings increased to 7.581 million from a revised 7.479 million (from 7.355 million) in December. Also, the Empire State Manufacturing Survey for March fell to 3.7 (consensus 10.0) from the prior month's unrevised reading of 8.8. Powered by Capital Market - Live News |