New Economic Report Keeps Precious Metals in Check

On Tuesday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for December delivery decreased $10.20 to settle at $1,602.40 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures traded flat to close at $27.77.

Both precious metals remained in a relatively tight trading range, as newly released economic data was considered “good enough” to stave off immediate central bank action. The Commerce Department reported that retail sales in the United States for July increased 0.8 percent from a month earlier. It was the largest jump in spending since February.

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“Today’s retail sales data further reduces the likelihood of QE3 in September, but does not take it off the table,” said Michelle Meyer, an economist at Bank of America in New York, according to Reuters. The U.S. dollar also rose to as high as $82.56 on the news.

In afternoon trading, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) declined 0.53 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) edged 0.11 percent higher. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) and AngloGold (NYSE:AU) dropped 1.21 percent and 2.07 percent, respectively. Silver miners (NYSEARCA:SIL) such as First Majestic (NYSE:AG) and Endeavour (NYSE:EXK) both fell slightly more than 1 percent.

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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS