Gold: A review of the market situation

Gold prices rose markedly, departing from the seven-week low, and a foothold above $ 1200. Support for precious metals were disappointing US data, as well as the fall of the American stock indexes.

National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that sales of existing homes fell in January, highlighting the uneven recovery of the housing market, which appears almost six years after the end of the recession. According to the data, housing sales in the secondary market fell by 4.9% last month from December and reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.82 million, said on Monday is the slowest pace in nine months. Economists had expected in January sales were down to the level of 5.03 million. Sales for December were revised to 5.07 million. 5.04 million. Sales in January rose by 3.2% compared to 2014 year. Given the current sales pace, it would take 4.7 months to exhaust the supply of homes on the market. The median sales price of homes in the secondary market was up 6.2% compared with a year earlier, at $ 199,600 in January.

The course of trade is also affected by expectations of speech Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Janet Yellen before the Senate Banking Committee. Her statement will be watched for any indication of when US interest rates will go up.

"Alluding to the fact that the Fed is in no hurry to raise interest rates is likely to trigger a rise in gold prices," said Bart Melek, an analyst at TD Securities. He expects that by the middle of March, the price of gold reached the level of 1229 dollars per troy ounce. "But we can expect volatility, as prices will depend on the economic data," - he said. Strong data provoke the fall in gold prices, while poor performance will have the opposite effect, he said.

Recall, gold is under pressure in recent weeks amid lingering expectations that this year the Fed will raise interest rates. Expectations rise in interest rates has a negative impact on the dynamics of the price of gold, because it can not compete with earning assets at high rates.

April futures price of gold on the COMEX today rose to 1203.50 dollars per ounce.