Morning of August 16: World gold price slightly decreased after production activity report in New York
Morning of August 16: Production activities in New York increased sharply, causing world gold prices to decrease slightly right 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 beat economists' expectations, which predicted a drop 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 fell slightly, indicating that businesses did not increase their prices much.
Gold prices fell to a session low after the report, which coincided with July retail sales data, but quickly recovered, with spot gold reaching $3,342.04 an ounce, after other data showed a slight decline in US consumer sentiment for August.
This shows that gold is still considered by many as a safe choice in the context of economic fluctuations.
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 tighter.
The labor market also showed positive signs. The employment index remained at 4.4 points, reflecting a slight increase in the number of workers. The average hours worked index was almost unchanged, indicating stable working time.
However, input costs remained high. The raw material price index remained virtually unchanged at 54.1 points, indicating continued cost pressure. Meanwhile, the selling price index fell slightly to 22.9 points, reflecting moderate increases in product prices.
In terms of future prospects, 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. Around two-thirds of businesses surveyed believe that raw material prices will continue to rise over the next six months. Capital investment plans remain low.
