Gold News & Info

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold dipped by 0.1%, retaining almost all of Friday's 1.3% gains, as traders slowly returned from the Thanksgiving holiday to confront the uncertainties of U.S. fiscal cliff negotiations and this week's EU summit on the debt crisis. Gold rose strongly with risk assets on Friday, climbing more than $23 to close above $1,751 for the first time in a month, after Germany's business-climate index beat expectations, rallying the euro and weakening the dollar. Today, with the Dow falling by 0.33%, equities gave back some of those gains and the dollar rebounded, in part because negotiations on the EU budget for handling the debt-crisis fell apart. Gold found safe-haven support despite falling equities and a rising dollar because of ongoing concerns about Greece, which is at risk of default if it does not receive another tranche of aid in the next few weeks. Silver edged up by 0.1% while platinum dropped 0.4% and palladium fell 1%

At the Comex close: December gold dipped $1.80 to $1,749.60; December silver added 2 cents to $34.14; January platinum fell $6.10 to $1,611; and December palladium dropped $6.40 to $661.20 an ounce.

Although EU budget talks hit a dead end, talks with the IMF on aid to Greece are continuing. After insisting for months that Greece's debt-to-GDP is on an unsustainable path, the IMF has demanded additional concessions from creditors before authorizing more aid. Germany, which is on the cuff for much of the Greek debt, has been strongly resistant. Both the IMF and Germany appear ready to compromise, but pending agreements over eurozone debt have a history of falling apart. If a solution is found this week and Greek aid is released, gold is likely to rally with the euro at the expense of the dollar. Gold should also see support from the tensions in the Middle East and congressional brinksmanship over the U.S. fiscal cliff.