Investing.com – The market maintains its strong gains above the $2,400 level, and trades near its highest levels in the session with a sharp decline and a rise.
On Friday, the University of Michigan said its preliminary index of consumer sentiment fell to 77.9, down from an upwardly revised March reading of 79.4. The data came in significantly different than expected as economists were looking for sentiment to remain relatively stable at 79.
Disappointing economic data contributes to increasing demand for gold as a safe haven in the gold market. June trading was trading at 2,421.60 an ounce, up 2% on the day.
The University of Michigan dismissed the decline in sentiment, noting that it had been fairly stable for four straight months, “as consumers saw few meaningful developments in the economy.”
“Since January, sentiment has remained remarkably consistent within a very narrow 2.5-point range for the index, well below the five points needed for a statistically significant difference in readings,” said Joan Hsu, director of consumer surveys. “However, the slight rise in inflation expectations in April reflects some frustration that the slowdown in inflation may have stalled. Overall, consumers are reticent to judge the economy in light of the upcoming election, which in the view of many consumers could have a significant impact on The course of the economy.”
According to the report, consumers see inflation rising to 3.1% by this time next year, up from 2.9% in March. The report said expectations had peaked above the range seen in the past two years.
Disappointing consumer sentiment could weigh on consumption in the first half of the year, said Stephen Brown, deputy chief economist for North America at Capital Economics.
However, Brown also rejected rising inflation expectations.
“It is likely that rising gasoline prices are behind the rebound in consumer expectations for inflation, although the latter is not at a level that should raise any serious concern,” he said in a note. “Furthermore, it is also worth noting that measures of inflation expectations have a long history of rising in the interim release, and then being revised back down when final estimates are released.”
Futures are now up 4.77% to $29,598 an ounce as well.
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