Gold rose to a two-month high against the dollar after a sharp decline the release of statistics on the U.S. housing market.

As shown by the U.S. Census Bureau, by the end of July home sales in the primary market in the U.S. were at the level of 394 thousand units annualized seasonally adjusted. The figure is well below the average forecast of analysts, which was at the level of 492 thousand value for June was revised to 455 thousand from 497 thousand

Given the revised data, housing sales in the primary market in the U.S. declined in May and July, and showed only a small increase in April and June. Despite the downward revision, sales are still 6.0% higher than the same period last year.

The pace of sales fell in all four regions of the country, with double-digit declines were observed in the Southern and Western regions.

The supply of new homes rose 4.3% to 171 thousand, which corresponds to stock up sales of 5.2 months. Last month the figure was at 4.3 months. Growth stocks and a drop in sales indicates a significant fall in demand in the market.

The cost of the October gold futures on COMEX today rose to $ 1397.40 per ounce.