Oil And Gold Analysis: Oil Prices Rose On US GDP

CL
Oil prices rose on Thursday after U.S. gross domestic product and weekly jobless claims reports beat expectations and depicted a recovery that is gaining steam and poised to demand more fuel and energy going forward. U.S. gross domestic product increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.6% in the three months to September, well above expectations for growth of 3.0% and up from a preliminary estimate of 2.8%, according to Commerce Department data released earlier. Separately, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week fell by 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 298,000 from 321,000 in the previous week, whose figure was revised up from 316,000. Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to rise to 325,000 last week. Government data also showed that U.S. factory orders fell 0.9% in October, less than the expected 1% decline after an upwardly revised 1.8% increase the previous month.


GOLD
Gold prices fell on Thursday but remained range bound after solid U.S. economic growth and jobless claims data firmed up talk the Federal Reserve will begin scaling back stimulus programs within the coming months. Stimulus tools such as the Fed's USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases aim to drive recovery by pushing down long-term interest rates, weakening the dollar in the process, and talk of their dismantling often strengthens the greenback. U.S. gross domestic product increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.6% in the three months to September, well above expectations for growth of 3.0% and up from a preliminary estimate of 2.8%, according to Commerce Department data released earlier. Separately, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week fell by 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 298,000 from 321,000 in the previous week, whose figure was revised up from 316,000. Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to rise to 325,000 last week. Gold also fell after the European Central Bank said it was its holding benchmark interest rate at 0.25%, as expected. Also supporting paper currencies and depressing demand for gold, the Bank of England's monetary policy committee voted to leave rates on hold at 0.5% and made no changes to its GBP375 billion quantitative easing stimulus package.