Gold News & Info

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold inched down 0.1% to close under $1,756 as expectations of a Fed taper lifted the dollar, pressuring alternative stores of value despite Wall Street weakness.

The dollar rose 0.3 to hover near a one-year high as currency traders, brushing aside Friday's surprisingly weak federal jobs report, speculated that the Federal Reserve will go ahead with reductions in its massive bond-buying program next month.

A stronger dollar weighs on gold and other commodities by making them pricier in other currencies.

The economy added only 194,000 jobs in September, the fewest in nine months, raising new concerns about the strength of the US recovery. At the same time, supply-chain disruptions continue to cause sharply higher prices across the board, putting the Fed in a bind.

To choke off inflation, the central bank needs to gradual end monetary stimulus and then raise interest rates. But to do so threatens to snuff out growth in jobs and GDP.

For most of the pandemic, the Fed prioritized lifting employment over lowering inflation, believing higher prices were temporary. This approach appears to be changing, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell saying recently that the labor market is now close to his target while inflation is more intractable than expected.

All three major US stock indexes declined on taper bets, with the Dow and S&P 500 dropping 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively, while the Nasdaq lost 0.1%.

Gold's slide was backstopped by sharply higher oil prices. WTI crude rose another 1.5% to more than 80.50 per barrel, a seven-year high. Gold often trades in sympathy with oil as a hedge against energy-related inflation.

The other precious metals were mixed, with silver and platinum dropping 0.2% and 2.1%, respect8vley, while palladium added 2.2%.

At the Comex close: December gold slid $1.70 to $1,755.70; December silver dipped 4 cents to $22.67; January platinum dropped $21.30 to $1,006.90; and December palladium gained $46.50 to $2,119.50 an ounce.