Gold Prices Hold Steady as US Home Sales Drop

Despite the continued weakness in the US housing market, the gold market is relatively unaffected as better-than-expected economic data alleviates some recession fears.

The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales fell 0.7% to a seasonally adjusted and annualized rate of 4.00 million units last month, which is weaker than expected as economists were anticipating a sales rate of 4.09 million homes.

This marks the twelfth consecutive month of declining home sales, with existing home sales down 36.9% compared to January 2022. Despite mixed economic data, the gold market is holding its ground in neutral territory around $1,850 an ounce, with April gold futures trading at $1,847.40 an ounce, down 0.16% on the day.

Shortly before the housing market data was released, the gold market experienced some selling pressure as investors reacted to better-than-expected activity in both the US service and manufacturing sectors.

In summary, the US housing market continues to show weakness with declining home sales for the twelfth consecutive month, down 0.7% to 4.00 million units in January. Despite this, the gold market has remained relatively unaffected as investors are reacting to better-than-expected economic data, holding its ground at around $1,850 an ounce. The gold market saw some selling pressure ahead of the release of the housing market data as investors reacted to better-than-expected activity in the US service and manufacturing sectors.