(Kitco News) - The gold market continues to struggle to find its footing as markets expect interest rates to remain unchanged for the foreseeable future and could face further selling pressure as consumer sentiment continues to improve.
The Consumer Confidence Index ticked up to 92.8 in April, above economists’ consensus forecast for a drop to 89 and also up from the downwardly revised 91.2 print from February, the Conference Board announced on Tuesday.
"Consumer confidence edged up in April but was overall little changed, despite material concern about rising gasoline prices as the war in the Middle East prompted a surge in Brent crude oil prices," said Dana M. Peterson, Chief Economist at The Conference Board. "Consumer appraisals of current and expected business conditions declined moderately compared to last month. This was offset by modest improvements in consumers' perceptions of the labor market, both current and expected, as well as income expectations, which were slightly more optimistic in April."
Gold has seen solid selling pressure through the early North American trading session and remains near session lows in the initial reaction to the better-than-expected consumer sentiment data. Spot gold last traded at $4,571.50 an ounce, down more than 2% on the day.
