Morning of August 16: World gold price slightly decreased after production activity report in New York
Morning of August 16: Manufacturing activity in New York increased sharply, causing world gold prices to slightly decrease immediately after the announcement.
The Empire State Manufacturing Index rose to 11.9 in August, up from 5.5 in July, the report said. The reading was far better than analysts had expected, with the index falling to 0.0. That suggests manufacturing in New York is doing better than expected, with new orders and shipments both rising.
However, delivery times lengthened and raw material supplies faced some difficulties. In addition, inventories fell after rising the previous month.
On the employment front, the situation also showed signs of improvement. The number of employees increased slightly, while the average number of hours worked remained unchanged. Input prices remained high, although they did not increase compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, product prices decreased slightly, indicating that businesses did not increase their prices much.
Gold prices fell to a session low after the report was released, coinciding with July retail sales data. However, prices quickly recovered, with spot gold reaching $3,342.04 an ounce, after another report showed a slight decline in U.S. consumer sentiment for August.
This shows that gold is still considered by many as a safe choice in a volatile economic context.
The report showed that manufacturing conditions in the region improved overall, but some weaknesses remained. The new orders index rose 13 points to 15.4, while the deliveries index remained unchanged at 12.2. Backlogs fell slightly. After rising sharply last month, the inventories index fell 22 points to -6.4, indicating a reduction in inventories. Delivery times lengthened markedly, and raw material supplies were also tighter.
The labor market also showed positive signs. The employment index remained at 4.4, reflecting a slight increase in the number of workers. The average hours worked index remained almost unchanged, indicating stable working hours.
However, input costs remained high. The raw material price index remained virtually unchanged at 54.1 points, indicating that cost pressures remained high. Meanwhile, the selling price index fell slightly to 22.9 points, reflecting a moderate increase in product prices.
Looking ahead, the business expectations index fell 8 points to 16.0, indicating that businesses remain confident of growth but are less optimistic than in July. New orders and deliveries are expected to increase. About two-thirds of businesses surveyed expect raw material prices to rise further over the next six months. Capital investment plans remain low.
