Gold prices gain in Asia following overnight trend, CNY demand eyed

Commodities Feb 03, 2015 10:27PM ET

Gold higher in Asia Investing.com - Gold prices gained in Asia on Wednesday as investors focused on Chinese New Year demand and continued a buying trend seen overnight in the U.S.



On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, for April delivery rose 0.13% to trade at $1,261.90 a troy ounce.



Also on the Comex, for March delivery fell 0.02% to trade at $17.318 a troy ounce.



Elsewhere in metals trading, for March delivery gained 0.30% to trade at $2.586 a pound.



Overnight, gold edged higher on Tuesday, as market players looked ahead to the release of key U.S. data later in the week for further indications on the strength of the economy and the future path of monetary policy.



Optimism over the health of the U.S. economy weakened after data on Monday showed that U.S. consumer spending fell at the fastest rate since September 2009 in December.



Separate reports showed that U.S. construction spending rose less than expected in December, while manufacturing growth slowed.



The disappointing numbers came after data last week that showed the U.S. economy grew by a weaker-than-expected 2.6% in the fourth quarter, slowing sharply from growth of 5.0% in the preceding quarter.



Market players also looked ahead to the release of the latest U.S. nonfarm payrolls report on Friday, for further indications on the strength of the recovery in the labor market.



Market analysts expect the data to show that the U.S. economy added 234,000 jobs in January, slowing from a gain of 252,000 in December, while the unemployment rate was forecast to hold steady at 5.6%.



A strong U.S. nonfarm payrolls report was likely to add to speculation over when the Federal Reserve will begin to raise interest rates, while a weak number could boost gold by undermining the argument for an early rate hike.



In Europe, markets were boosted by hopes that Greece’s new government would be able to reach a compromise with its international creditors on the terms of its bailout.

Gold prices gain in Asia following overnight trend, CNY demand eyed

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