Investing.com -- Gold prices continued a gradual recovery on Thursday after weak economic data from around the world reassured market participants that the trend toward easier global monetary conditions is still intact.
By 10:45 AM ET (1545 GMT), gold futures for delivery on the Comex exchange were up 0.2% at $1,466.25 a troy ounce. Spot gold was also up 0.2% at $1,465.74.
Japan, China, Australia and the U.K. all reported economic data of one sort or another that were below expectations. In China, retail sales growth was the weakest in 20 years while fixed asset investment grew at the slowest rate since the country started publishing that data series, according to analysts at ABN AMRO (AS:ABNd).
There were also signs of the U.S. economy stuttering, with producer price inflation falling to a lowly 1.1% on the year, and initial jobless claims rising to their highest since June. Although still near historic lows, jobless claims look more and more likely to have bottomed in the third quarter.
The euro zone stood out as a relative island of strength, as its quarterly gross domestic product growth of 0.2% came in as expected. However, even there, a positive surprise in Germany for the quarter was offset by downward revisions to the previous quarter.
“Trade uncertainties are still weighing on corporate investment,” Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) economic Stefan Schneider said of the German data. “Much depends on how global trade conflicts unfold: if the most recent signs of a moderate détente are borne out, German GDP could grow by nearly 1% next year, after 0.5% in the current year.”
The weak inflation outlook shaved four basis points off 10-year and 30-year Treasury bond yields, but failed to move two-year yields much after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell pushed back against arguments for more interest rate cuts in Congressional testimony on Wednesday. Powell enlarged on those comments Thursday before the House budget committee without adding much that was new, while President Donald Trump taunted him again about the absence of inflation.
Silver futures were back below $17 an ounce at $16.92, while platinum futures were up less than 0.1% at $875.15 an ounce.