Bullion metals
ended lower at Comex on Tuesday, 27 November 2012. Gold prices ended lower for second straight day as the dollar headed up and a sort of debt deal was reached at Greece. Upbeat US data also took some shine away.
Gold
for December delivery fell $7.3 (0.4%) to settle at $1,742.3 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, December silver fell 16 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $33.98 an ounce.
In overnight trading, the European stock markets rallied only modestly on news that Euro zone leaders meeting in Brussels agreed late Monday to disburse fresh bailout funds to cash-starved Greece. Most market watchers had reckoned EU leaders would grant new monies to Greece. The world market place showed no significant reaction to the as-expected news on Greece.
A meeting to discuss Greece's finances wrapped up early Tuesday with Greece's institutional lenders reaching a deal to pave the way for Athens to receive almost 44 billion euros (almost $57 billion) of financial aid, while bringing its debt down to a sustainable level. The deal is expected to trigger another aid payment for the debt-struck country.
A heavy slate of U.S. economic data released Tuesday did show generally better-than-expected readings overall, and that put modest upside pressure on the U.S. dollar index, which in turn helped push gold and silver prices to their daily lows.
The dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, rose by 0.2% on Tuesday. The Euro currency also was initially supported on the Greece news but could not hold those gains as the day wore on.
In today's economic news at Wall Street, Consumer confidence rose in November to its best reading in more than four years. The latest consumer confidence reading for November came in at 73.7, while market expected a reading of 73.0. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 73.7 in November from 73.1 in October. That's above the 72.2 level forecast. The October reading was upwardly revised from 72.2.
Separately, the September Housing Price Index from the FHFA increased by 1.1%, which follows a 0.7% increase observed during the prior month. Also, the September Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index rose by 3.0%, while a 3.1% increase had been expected. This followed the previous month's increase of 2.0%.
Durable goods orders were unchanged in October, which was better than the 0.4% decrease that had been expected. Excluding transportation related items, durable goods orders increased in October by 1.5%, which was better than the 0.4% decrease that had been broadly anticipated. Prior month's reading was revised down to reflect an increase of 1.7%.
Traders and investors are also focused on the negotiations among U.S. lawmakers and President Obama regarding the so-called “fiscal cliff” tax increases and spending cuts that are approaching.
At the MCX, gold prices for February delivery closed lower by Rs 149 (0.45%) at Rs 32,594 per ten grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 32,825 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 32,550 per 10 grams during the day's trading.
At the MCX, silver prices for December delivery closed lower by Rs 198 (0.31%) at Rs 63,536/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 63,877/kg and fell to a low of Rs 63,361/Kg during the day's trading.
