Gold drops for 4th consecutive day

CHICAGO, May 2 (Xinhua): Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday fell on positive US economic data.
The most active gold contract for June lost 12.5 US  dollars, or 0.96 per cent, to settle at 1,283.4 dollars per ounce. This is the fourth day that the price of gold has declined, as positive economic data has dampened investment demand.
Among the positive data that caused gold to fall, the U.S.  Commerce Department reported Thursday that consumer spending increased 0.9 per cent, the largest rise since late 2009. The same report also said that U.S. personal income rose 0.5 per cent.
Gold's decline was helped along by a report indicating manufacturing in the U.S. increased, an index from the Institute for Supply Management indicated that it rose to 54.9 per cent last month, the highest level since December. The U.S. Federal Reserve cut its bond-buying strategy by 10 billion dollars to 45 billion dollars starting in May.
Gold also fell as the U.S. Commerce Department said that outlays for U.S. construction projects rose 0.2 per cent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 942.5 billion dollars on private residential projects. The report said that spending rose 0.8 per cent for residential construction, and 0.2 per cent for nonresidential projects. In the realm of public projects, spending fell 6.6 per cent for residential construction and 0.5 per cent for nonresidential construction.