Gold futures fluctuated between small gains and losses during U.S. morning hours on Tuesday, as investors digested a flurry of U.S. economic reports while eyeing the outcome of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve policy meeting.
Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would end its bond-buying program sooner-than-expected.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery traded at USD1,466.55 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours, little changed on the day.
Comex gold prices held in a range between USD1,460.65 a troy ounce, the daily low and a session high of USD1,479.15 a troy ounce.
Gold prices were likely to find support at USD1,403.75 a troy ounce, the low from April 22 and near-term resistance at USD1,484.75, Friday’s high.
The Conference Board said in a report earlier that its index of consumer confidence rose to 68.1 in April from a reading of 59.2 in March, whose figure was revised down from 59.7.
Analysts had expected the index to rise to 60.8 in April.
The data came after a report showed that manufacturing activity in the Chicago-area contracted for the first time in six months in April, falling to the lowest level since September 2010.
Market research group Kingsbury International said its Chicago purchasing managers’ index fell to a seasonally adjusted 49.0 in April from a reading of 52.4 in March.
Also Tuesday, Standard & Poor’s with Case-Shiller said its house price index rose at an annualized rate of 9.3% in February from a year earlier, above expectations for a 9% increase.
Market players now looked ahead to Wednesday’s policy statement from the Federal Reserve, for further hints regarding the future of the central bank’s monetary easing program.
Investors were also eyeing the outcome of the European Central Bank’s policy meeting on Thursday, amid growing expectations for a rate cut, as well as Friday’s closely watched report on U.S. nonfarm payrolls.
From a technical standpoint, the precious metal is expected to meet strong resistance at the USD1,480-level.
Comex gold fell to a 27-month low of USD1,322.25 an ounce on April 16. Since then, the yellow metal has climbed nearly 10% as investors returned to the market to seek cheap valuations.
Prices of the precious metal are still down almost 9% in April, on track for the worst monthly performance since December 2011.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for July delivery dipped 0.2% to trade at USD24.12 a troy ounce, while copper for July delivery tumbled 1.5% to trade at USD3.178 a pound.
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