2020.11.2518:39:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Slightly Up

Gold futures ended slightly up on Wednesday after moving in a tight band as traders continued to track news about coronavirus cases and digest recent updates on potential Covid-19 vaccines.

The developments on the political front where the President-elect Joe Biden is set to move into the White House were eyed as well.

Traders, digesting a slew of economic data released today, were also looking ahead to the release of Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting.

A weak dollar amid prospects for a stimulus plan supported the yellow metal a bit.

The dollar index, which dropped down to 91.93, recovered some lost ground, but was still down 0.2% at 92.05.

Gold futures for December ended up $0.90 at $1,805.50 an ounce, after moving between $1,79860 and $1,816,30 in the session.

Silver futures for December ended higher by $0.062 at $23.362 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $3.3095 per pound, gaining $0.0100.

According to data released by the Labor Department, first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased in the week ended November 21st, climbing to 778,000, an increase of 30,000 from the previous week's revised level of 748,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to drop to 730,000 from the 742,000 originally reported for the previous week.

A report from the Commerce Department said durable goods orders jumped by 1.3% in October after spiking by 2.1% in September. Economists had expected durable goods orders to climb by 0.9%.

Another report from the Commerce Department showed the spike in gross domestic product in the third quarter was 33.1%, unrevised from the initial estimate.

Personal income in the U.S. fell by 0.7% in October after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.7% in September. Economists had expected personal income to come in unchanged compared to the 0.9% increase originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said personal spending rose by 0.5% in October after jumping by a revised 1.2% in September.

Yet another report from the same department said new home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly dipped by 0.3% to an annual rate of 999,000 in October after inching up by 0.1% to a revised rate of 1.002 million in September.

Revised data released by the University of Michigan on Wednesday showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated by slightly more than expected in the month of November, with the index coming in at 76.9 down from a preliminary reading of 77.0.