Gold Prices Show Modest Move Back To The Downside

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session modestly higher, the price of gold moved back to the downside during trading on Wednesday.

Gold for February delivery edged down $5.10 or 0.3 percent to $1,805.80 an ounce after inching up $2.10 or 0.1 percent to $1,810.90 an ounce on Tuesday.

The slight pullback by the price of the precious metal came as concerns about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus have continued to ease, reducing the appeal of safe haven assets like gold.

While the Omicron variant has contributed to a surge in new coronavirus cases around the world, traders seem optimistic that the milder symptoms associated with the new strain will not lead to a significant economic slowdown.

Gold prices moved lower even though the value of the U.S. dollar has also dipped on the day, with the U.S. dollar index slipping by 0.3 percent to 95.94.

On the U.S. economic front, a report released by the National Association of Realtors showed an unexpected pullback in pending home sales in the month of November.

NAR said its pending home sales index slid 2.2 percent to 122.4 in November after spiking 7.5 percent to 125.2 in October. The decrease surprised economists, who had expected pending home sales to rise by 0.5 percent.

A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.