Bullions ended on a mixed note on Tuesday, 25 June 2019 at Comex. Gold futures gave back almost all of the day's gains on Tuesday after comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell raised some doubt over an interest-rate cut in July, but prices still settled a bit higher, holding at their finish since 2013.

August gold settled at $1,418.70 an ounce, the highest finish for a most-active contract since August 28, 2013. It posted a gain of just 50 cents, or 0.04%, after earlier trading as high as $1,442.90, which was the highest intraday level since May 2013. July silver fell 7.7 cents, or 0.5%, to $15.30 an ounce after gaining 3.3% last week.

Powell suggested said Tuesday that greater uncertainty about international trade and worries about global economic growth might be starting to show through to economic data, though Fed officials don't know how long that may last or how serious the drag might be.

Expectations for lower interest rates among global central banks and geopolitical concerns have been making gold a preferred investment these days. The Japanese yen, another perceived haven investment, rose 0.2% against the dollar. The yield on the 10-year note fell 2.8 basis points to 1.993%.

Day's economic report showed that the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell to 121.5 in June from a downwardly revised 131.3 (from 134.1) in May. The index is at its lowest level since September 2017. The key takeaway from the report is that it reflects growing concern about trade tensions among consumers that had been previously lacking, but which had been showing up in business confidence surveys. Flagging confidence on the part of businesses and consumers alike, if it is sustained, is an adverse development for the growth outlook.

New home sales declined 7.8% m/m in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000 from an upwardly revised 679,000 (from 673,000) in April.The key takeaway from the report is that demand was relatively soft despite a drop in mortgage rates and a 2.8% yr/yr decline in the median sales price of $308,000.

Separately, the FHFA Housing Price Index for April increased 0.4% following an unrevised 0.1% increase in March. Also, the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index for April increased 2.5% as expected after increasing a revised 2.6% in March (from 2.7%)