Gold Climbs to Over $4,100 on July 9th as U.S. Existing Home Sales Slip 2.4%
Gold pushed to above $4,100 an ounce on Thursday after U.S. existing home sales fell 2.4% in June, missing expectations and highlighting ongoing weakness in the housing market. In the meantime, Russia’s central bank gold holdings fell under $300 billion in June.
Gold price today bounced back to above the $4,100 per ounce on July 9th morning, and may draw additional upward force as the American real estate sector struggling, with residential transactions continuing to face headwinds.
Overall existing-home sales-covering single-family dwellings, townhomes, and condominiums declined by 2.4% to a seasonally adjusted yearly pace of 4.09 million units in June, down from the previous month's 4.19 million rate, the National Association of Realtors reported this morning.
Economists polled by consensus had anticipated a flat reading. The data did note that home sales were about 1.8% higher compared to the same month a year ago.
Although gold did not stage a dramatic pump in its first response to the weaker-than-expected housing figures, prices have since advanced to session peaks. Spot gold was last exchanging hands around $4,130 an ounce, marking a gain of over 1% on the day.
Meanwhile, on other news that's related to gold as well, Russia’s sovereign gold reserves have dropped beneath the $300 billion threshold for the first time since early 2022, extending a multi-month sell-down that now spans half a year, according to fresh figures published by the Central Bank of Russia on Tuesday.
The CBR valued the nation’s bullion holdings at $298.99 billion at the close of June. Total official reserve assets has also contracted sharply, sliding to $720.4 billion, while its foreign currency reserves remained essentially flat at $392.4 billion.
Related assets: Gold, Silver, Palladium, Platinum