Week In Review: US Growth Boosts Silver & Platinum; WTI Tops $100; Copper Breaks Out
Macroeconomic Highlights
News flow was relatively light this week given the Christmas holiday. Perhaps the most important development was the advance in the U.S. 10-year bond yield, which reached as high as 3.02 percent for the first time in 2 ½ years.
In economic data, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said that personal income in the U.S. rose by 0.2 percent in November, while personal spending rose by 0.5 percent.
The Census Bureau reported that durable goods orders in the U.S. jumped by 3.5 percent in November; excluding the transportation sector, orders climbed 1.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said that new home sales slipped by 2.1 percent to 464K units annualized in November.
Finally, the Department of Labor reported that the number of people filing for unemployment benefits fell sharply from 380K to 338K last week.