Gold News & Info

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold edged up less than 0.1% to close above $1,843 as inflation and growth worries drove safe-haven inflows despite increasing Treasury yields.

The Fed’s Beige Book recorded “slight or modest” growth in May, with a raft of difficulties facing the economy. Rising interest rates, high inflation, the Ukraine war, and the ongoing pandemic continue to create substantial headwinds, the anecdotal survey found.

The EU has agreed to a partial and phased ban on Russian oil, a decision that is expected to increase global energy inflation.

In the meantime, additional Fed officials came out strongly for continued, aggressive action against inflation. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard warned that the Fed is “on the precipice of losing control of inflation expectations.” Mary Daly of the San Francisco Fed called for raising rates above 2.5% “as quickly as possible.”

Daly and Bullard join Fed Governor Christopher Waller in targeting more and faster rate hikes than Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other appear to prefer. Last week, Powell suggested a pause might be needed to prevent market over-reaction to higher rates, a position echoed by the Atlanta Fed’s Earl Bostic.

Wall Street retreated on the hawkish Fed rhetoric despite a slight uptick the ISM manufacturing survey for May. The Dow slid 0.5% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq lost 0.8% each.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields pushed up above 2.9%, putting a lid on gold’s gains by increasing the opportunity cost for holding it instead of bonds.

The other precious metals were mixed, with silver and platinum rising 1.1% and 2.9%, respectively, while palladium fell 0.3%.

At the Comex close: August gold added 60 cents, to $1,843.30; July silver rose 23 cents to $21.88; July platinum climbed $28.10 to $996; and September palladium slid $4.40 to $2,006