Gold and House Prices UP17 Jul 2009 19:04
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aGdGhV2Dv6EA
Gold Gains on Inflation-Hedge Demand, Higher Oil; Silver Climbs
By Halia Pavliva and Nicholas Larkin
July 17 (Bloomberg) -- Gold advanced on rising demand for the precious metal as a hedge against inflation after U.S. housing starts increased in June, adding to signs the world’s biggest economy is stabilizing. Silver also gained.
Home-building starts rose 3.6 percent to an annual rate of 582,000, the highest since November, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Building permits, a sign of future construction, jumped the most in a year. Crude-oil futures, used by some investors as an inflation indicator, advanced. Some investors use gold as a store of value.
“Fresh buying will be supported by a weakening dollar and a build in inflation expectations,” Suki Cooper, a Barclays Capital analyst in London, said today in a report.
Gold futures for August delivery gained $1.90, or 0.2 percent, to $937.30 an ounce at 11:27 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division.
Bullion for immediate delivery in London advanced 57 cents to $937.91 an ounce.
Silver futures for September delivery increased 16.5 cents, or 1.2 percent to $13.40 an ounce in New York.
Gold “will continue to look to both the dollar and broader market movement for direction,” James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com in London, said today in a note.
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