Gold Futures Settle Modestly Higher For The Session, Gain 1% In Week

(RTTNews) - Gold futures settled higher on Friday despite a slightly stronger dollar, as rising predictions of a Trump presidency as well as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East pushed up demand for the safe-haven yellow metal.

The dollar index, which moved along the flat line till noon, climbed to 104.24, gaining nearly 0.2%, with investors looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy announcement due on November 7.

The CME FedWatch tool reveals that markets continue to overwhelmingly expect another Fed rate cut in November, with a 95.6 percent probability for a 25 basis points cut and a 4.4 percent probability for a status quo.

Gold futures for October ended higher by $6.00 or about 0.22% at $2,740.90 an ounce. The contract gained about 1% in the week.

Silver futures for October closed up $$0.008 at $33.603 an ounce. Silver futures gained about 1.73% in the week.

Copper futures for November climbed to $4.3400 per pound, gaining $0.0150 or about 0.35%.

Reflecting a continued slump by orders for transportation equipment, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods fell by more than expected in the month of September.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders slid by 0.8 percent in September, matching a revised decrease in August.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to fall by 0.5 percent compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.

In economic news, consumer sentiment in the U.S. unexpectedly improved in the month of October, according to revised data released by the University of Michigan. The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index for October was upwardly revised to 70.5 from a preliminary reading of 68.9. Economists had expected the index to be upwardly revised slightly to 69.0.

The Atlanta Fed cut the U.S. growth projection for the third quarter on Friday, citing the recent official data as well as the housing market figures. The bank lowered the GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth in the third quarter to 3.3% from 3.4% projected on October 18.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York staff nowcast of U.S. GDP growth for the third and fourth quarters were lowered on Friday, citing negative surprises from recent economic data. The New York Fed Staff Nowcast for the third quarter was reduced to 2.9% from 3% estimated on October 18. The figure was lowered for a second time this month.