Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Gold futures fell for a second day, adding to losses after a stronger manufacturing survey in the Philadelphia region gave a boost to the U.S. dollar. Gold for February delivery traded down $18.70, or 1.3%, to $1,367.70 an ounce in recent action Thursday. The contract had after briefly recovered some ground after separate U.S. economic reports showed that first-time jobless claims fell last week and that housing starts rose 3.9% to an annualized pace of 555,000 in November, a little stronger than forecast.

But gold then added to losses after the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported a surprise improvement in business conditions for area factories during December, rising to 24.3 from a reading of 22.5 last month. This served to bolster the dollar. �Perhaps more than any other indicator, the abrupt reversal in this from negative readings in August and September illustrates the rather dramatic upswing in economic activity that seems to have taken hold in the fourth quarter,� wrote Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist for Deutsche Bank. See full story.