Multi-family Home Construction Surges, Gold Rebounds 2.5%

Nichole Harper
16 Apr, 2013
New York City

Market indexes in New York rebounded after housing starts surged 7% in March led by a 31% surge in multifamily construction. Gold rebounded 2.5% a day after plunging 9.4%, the single largest one day decline in 33 years.

[R]11:00 AM New York – Market indexes in New York rebounded after housing starts surged 7% in March led by a 31% surge in multifamily construction. Gold rebounded 2.5% a day after plunging 9.4%, the single largest one day decline in 33 years.[/R]

Stocks in New York stage a rebound after the gold price recovered 2.4% and housing starts jumped more than expected.

Front-month April gold futures rebounded 2.5% to $1,396.80 a troy ounce after plunging $140.40 an ounce or 9.4%.

The gold registered its largest one-day decline in 33 years in Monday’s trading.

May futures of silver increased 1.6% to $23.74 an ounce and May crude oil futures decreased 0.3% to $88.45 a barrel.

Housing starts soared 7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.04 million units, according to the latest data released by the Commerce Department.

The monthly annual rate increase was the most since June 2008 and February data was revised higher to annual rate of 968,000.

Building permits decreased 3.9% in March to annual rate of 902,000 and starts rose the most in South with a surge of 10.9%.

Single-family homes construction fell 4.8% to annual rate of 619,000 but multi-family home starts soared 31% to annual rate of 417,000.

European Markets

Across the euro zone, annual inflation fell to 1.7% in March from 2.7% a year ago, the Eurostat said Tuesday, raising prospects for a rate cut soon. The European Central Bank targeted inflation closer to 2%.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index fell 0.2% or 11 to 6,333 and in Frankfurt the DAX index rose 0.2% to 14.6 to 7,727. In Paris, CAC 40 index edged up 0.1% or 5.4 to 3,716.

Asian Markets

The benchmark Nikkei index recovered from its decline of more than 1% by mid-day and the yen rebounded.

The yen strengthened to 97.90 against one dollar as the weakness in precious metals drove speculators to the U.S. dollar.

Sensex Index in India soared 2% after Reliance Industries reported a sharp improvement in crude oil refining margins and earnings soared 24%.

Stocks in Review

Goldman Sachs ((GS)) declined 2.2% despite beating the earnings for the sixth quarter in a row but trading revenues showed a weakness.

Coca-Cola ((KO)) soared 5% and Johnson & Johnson ((JNJ)) jumped 1.5% after the company reported earnings ahead of market estimates.