Gold futures remain lower after U.S. factory orders data (5 feb 2014)

Gold futures remained lower on Tuesday, after data showed that U.S. factory orders fell less-than-expected in December.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery fell to a session low of USD1,247.20 a troy ounce, before trimming losses to trade at USD1,250.50 an ounce during U.S. morning hours, down 0.75%.
Comex gold rallied 1.62% on Monday to settle at USD1,259.90 an ounce. Prices were likely to find support at USD1,238.20 a troy ounce, the low from January 31 and resistance at USD1,270.70, the high from January 29.
Meanwhile, silver for March delivery traded at USD19.34 a troy ounce, down 0.3%. The March contract settled 1.51% higher on Monday to end at USD19.40 an ounce.
Silver futures were likely to find support at USD19.06 a troy ounce, the low from February 3 and resistance at USD19.62, the high from February 3.
The U.S. Commerce Department said factory orders declined by a seasonally adjusted 1.5% in December, compared to forecasts for a 1.7% drop.
Gold and silver rallied on Monday after U.S. manufacturing data heightened concern about the economy before Friday's closely-watched monthly jobs report.
The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index fell to a seven-month low in January, as new orders slumped.
The disappointing data sparked concerns over the outlook for the U.S. recovery, ahead of Friday’s U.S. jobs report for January, after December’s report showed that the economy added far fewer jobs than expected.

Market players have closely been looking out for U.S. data reports recently to gauge if they will strengthen or weaken the case for the Federal Reserve to scale back stimulus.
The central bank tapered its monthly asset purchase program by another USD10 billion to USD65 billion a month last week, citing improvements in the labor market.
Elsewhere on the Comex, copper futures for March delivery rose 0.3% to trade at USD3.194 a pound.
Copper futures advanced for the first time in ten sessions on Tuesday, as investors returned to the market to seek cheap valuations after prices fell to a two-month low of USD3.175 a pound in the previous session.
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