2014.08.2000:52:06UTC+00Gold marks third declining day on US data

Futures for gold fell for a third consecutive day behind a loss of appeal due to minimal pressure on consumer prices in the US and an improvement in the country’s housing starts.

Gold with a delivery date in December declined by 0.2% and was trading at a price per ounce of $1,296.70 early afternoon in New York’s Comex. It reached the lowest value since August 6th among most active contracts of $1,293 on August 15th. Trading volume was 41% less than the 100 day average, according to Bloomberg data.

The precious metal has recovered by 7.9% this year so far with help from unrest in Ukraine and the Middle East boosting demand for a safe haven. It declined by the most in three decades in 2013 when equities rallied amidst low inflation.

Recent data shows that the rate of increase to the cost of living in the US during the month of July was at a five month low pace. Additionally, applying further pressure on gold was the 16% jump in the construction of new homes in the country making for the highest improvement for the last eight months.

Senior market strategist Blake Robben from Chicago’s Archer Financial Services says that, “Today’s CPI number shows that inflation is not rising and you don’t need to hedge against inflation… Good economic data will give Fed the confidence to raise interest rates.”

Gold dropped by 3% in July with investors speculating that the Federal Reserve will begin to raise up interest rates as improvements to the economy continue. The minutes of their latest meeting last July 29-30 is expected to be released tomorrow which will be followed the next day by a speech by central bank chair Janet Yellen in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Futures for silver with a delivery date in September fell to a price per ounce of $19.412 after losing 1.1% still on the Comex. It earlier reached its lowest value in more than two months of $19.365.

Palladium for September on the New York Mercantile Exchange declined 1.6% for a price of $880.80 per ounce. The metal, which is used mostly by the automobile industry, reached the highest in more than 13 years yesterday when it hit $902.75 due to decreasing global supplies.

Meanwhile, platinum with a delivery date in October recorded its longest decline since April 22nd by falling for the fifth consecutive session by 0.5% to $1,439.50 per ounce.