Gold News & Info

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold edged down less than 0.1% to close just above $1,855 as uncertainty about the progress of fiscal stimulus lifted the dollar, undermining demand for alternative stores of value.

With impeachment articles for former President Donald Trump being conveyed to the Senate today, the prospects for the passage of additional pandemic aid have become cloudier. The Senate is expected to delay Trump's trial for a couple of weeks, leaving time to take up other pressing business first. But whether that means more aid is coming remains to be seen.

Senate Republicans have become increasingly resistant to the $1.9 trillion price tag of the new Biden Administration plan, calling it unnecessarily expensive. Partisan polarization is only expected to intensify as the former president is put on trial.

The dollar rose nearly 0.2% to a one-week high, lifted by rising inflation expectations and the uncertain fate of stimulus. A stronger dollar weighs on gold and other commodities by making them more expensive in other currencies, limiting overseas demand.

Fiscal spending, like monetary easing from the Federal Reserve, tends to devalue the dollar by flooding the economy with cheap cash, thereby lifting demand for inflation hedges like gold.

The other precious metals were also lower, with silver slipping 0.3% while platinum and palladium lost 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively.

At the Comex close: February gold dipped $1 to $1,855.20; March silver slid 7 cents to $25.48; April platinum shed $6.90 to $1,104.70; and March palladium dropped $18.30 to $2,346.90 an ounce.