Gold News & Info

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold fell 1.7% to close at a one-week low under $1,722 on profit-taking as rising tensions with China and weak economic data pushed investors into cash. The metal rallied 3.2% over the previous five sessions to reach a new 7.5-year high near $1,765 earlier in the week.

President Trump warned China that the US will take strong action if it imposes new national security restrictions on Hong Kong in response to last year's pro-Democracy demonstrations. Earlier in the day, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo roundly condemned China for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

For its part, China vowed it would not flinch from aggression, escalating the rhetorical battle between the world's two largest economies just months after the so-called Phase One trade agreement was signed.

Wall Street fell on the renewed tensions, with the Dow dropping 0.4% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq surrendered more than 0.7%. The dollar rose 0.2% on flights to cash while UY Treasury yields fell again.

Also weighing risk sentiment was a string of moderately improving but still historically bad economic data. HIS Markit's latest flash PMI showed US manufacturing contracted by slightly less in May, rising to 39.8 from 36.1 in April, where anything under 50 means contraction. New factory and services orders were the second lowest since the 2008 financial crisis.

Meanwhile, 3.3 million more Americans filed for first-time jobless benefits last week though the state and federal systems combined, bring the total new claims to 44 million since mid-March.

The other precious metals were also lower, with silver dropping 3.7% while platinum and palladium lost 7.3% and 4.5%, respectively.

At the Comex close: June gold fell $30.20 to $1,721.90; July silver dropped 67 cents to $17.36; July platinum dumped $68 to $866.50; and June palladium surrendered $97.10 to $2,062.30 an ounce.