Gold prices have pushed higher as consumers shopped less than expected in December, during what many have described was a disappointing holiday shopping season.
U.S. retail sales fell 1.9% last month, down from November’s 0.3% increase according to the latest data from the U.S. Commerce Department, released Friday; the data significantly missed expectations as economists were forecasting an unchanged reading.
Meanwhile, core retail sales fell 2.3% in December, down from November’s 0.3% increase. Economists were expecting to see a 0.2% increase.
The control group, which excludes autos, gas, building materials, and food services and feeds directly into GDP calculations, fell 3.1%. Economists were expecting to see a 0.1% rise.
The gold market is seeing new bullish momentum following the disappointing economic data. Spot gold last traded at $1,824.10 an ounce, up 0.10 on the day.
Adam Button, chief currency strategist at Forexlive.com said that the control group saw its largest fall since February 2021.
“There was some considerable hand-wringing about a soft reading in retail sales due to credit card spending data and that proved to be the case. The numbers were even worse than speculated,” he said.