Gold News & Info

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold gained 0.3% to close at a one-week high above $1,982 as yields fell on dovish Fed jawboning and mixed US data. The metal lost 1.8% for the month, pressured by a stronger dollar.

A pair of prominent Fed officials signaled support for no rate increase at the June Fed meeting. Both Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and Fed Governor Philip Jefferson said separately that the central bank should "skip" a rate hiking in June so the Fed can see more data.

The statements are a notable reversal in the generally hawkish trend in commentary coming from Fed members in recent days. Fed fund futures traders now put the odds of a June rate hike at just 33%, down from more than 66% yesterday.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields dropped to just above 3.61% on the shifting rate view, lifting gold by decreasing the opportunity cost for holding it instead of bonds as a safe-haven asset.

Also supporting the metal, the Chicago PMI index fell another 8.1 points into the negative, marking the ninth straight month of contraction in the Midwest Fed region. And the Fed's Beige Book showed the economy cooling somewhat in May, with hiring and inflation increasing at a slower pace.

On the positive side of the data ledger, job openings rose to a three-month high in April, the Labor Department reported, signaling that the economy still has a lot of momentum to keep wages and prices elevated.

After rallying to a nine-week high early in the session on weak manufacturing data in China, the dollar fell back to nearly flat on the dovish Fed speak. The buck's impressive rebound over the past month, driven largely by a more hawkish Fed, has been a major headwind for gold and other commodities.

The other precious metals were mixed for the day and lower for the month. Silver rose 1.5% today but fell 6.5% this month. Platinum lost 2.2% for a monthly decline of 8.4%. Palladium lost 2.8% for the session and 11% for the month.

At the Comex close: August gold gained $5 to $1,982.10; July silver climbed 35 cents to $23.59; July platinum dropped $22.90 to $999; and September palladium shed $38.50 to $1,359 an ounce.