Gold futures extended losses from Thursday’s U.S. session in the early part of Asian trading today as traders digested some slack economic data out of Europe.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery fell 0.24% to USD1,631.65 per troy ounce in Asian trading Friday. That decline comes after gold settled down 0.54% at USD1,636.15 a troy ounce in U.S. trading on Thursday.
Gold futures were likely to test support USD1,626.05 a troy ounce, the low from Jan. 4, and resistance at USD1,653.75, Wednesday's high. On Thursday, a reported showed the euro zone’s fourth-quarter GDP contracted by 0.6%, well below expectations for a 0.4% quarterly decline and far surpassing the previous 0.1% contraction. It was the worst rate of contraction since 2009 and the third straight quarter of negative growth. Typically, economists consider an economy to be in recession with two consecutive negative GDP readings.
Gold futures were likely to test support USD1,626.05 a troy ounce, the low from Jan. 4, and resistance at USD1,653.75, Wednesday's high. On Thursday, a reported showed the euro zone’s fourth-quarter GDP contracted by 0.6%, well below expectations for a 0.4% quarterly decline and far surpassing the previous 0.1% contraction. It was the worst rate of contraction since 2009 and the third straight quarter of negative growth. Typically, economists consider an economy to be in recession with two consecutive negative GDP readings.
