Gold price holding on to gains following 3.9% rise in U.S. housing starts

(Kitco News) - The gold market is holding on to gains and just down from session highs even as construction in the U.S. housing sector picked up in August.

Housing starts increased 3.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.615 million units last month, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. According to consensus estimates, economists were expecting to see the pace of construction remain unchanged at 1.55 million units.

Annually, housing construction is up more than 17%, the report said.