Gold traded near daily highs after the US released its housing market data for January. The report indicated that the volume of housing was less than expected, while the number of issued building permits beat estimates.
According to the report of the US Department of Commerce, housing starts fell 4.1% last month to a seasonally adjusted 1.638 million. The data for December, on the other hand, was revised to 1.708 million, while the year-on-year data increased by 0.8%. Permits for future homebuilding also rose 0.7% m/m to 1.899 million and is up 0.8% y/y.
Katherine Judge, an economist at CIBC World Markets economist, said housing construction in the US slowed because of labor and material shortages.
The release of the Philadelphia Fed's negative manufacturing index data also contributed to gold's move towards $1,900.
Prior to this data, prices also rose due to geopolitical tensions.
