Gold prices fell to just under $4,400 per ounce after July 2026 data showed US housing starts dropped 12.4% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.239 million units, below economists' 1.35 million forecast. The report pointed to continued housing-market weakness as single-family starts fell 9.9% to 808,000, down 15.7% from a year earlier, and multi-unit starts declined 15.6%, even as building permits rose 5.0% overall to 1.443 million and single-family permits increased 2.5% to 894,000. Higher mortgage rates, affordability pressures and a growing inventory of unsold new homes continued to weigh on residential construction, a leading indicator for jobs and demand across the broader economy. Analysts said the miss could feed into the Federal Reserve's assessment of economic cooling, though monthly housing data can be volatile and one reading does not establish a trend.