Gold News & Info

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold edged up 0.1% to close above $1,479 as new easing measures from major central banks boosted market liquidity and drew investors out of cash positions.

The Federal Reserve opened currency swap line with central banks in nine countries, easing the dollar-crunch in a global financial system that is dependent on the US currency.

It was the latest emergency move by the Fed in recent days to soften coronavirus-driven blows to the US and world economies. Earlier this week, the central bank slashed of interest rates to near zero and the launch of $800 billion in quantitative easing.

Following suit, the Bank of England announced another rate cut and additional quantitative easing of 200 pounds sterling. And the European Central Bank is launching an additional $820 billion in quantitative easing.

Tantamount to printing money, QE pumps huge amounts of cash into national economies, effectively devaluing currencies by vastly increasing the money supply. When major central banks undertook concerted QE programs following the 2008 financial crisis, gold rallied to a record high above $1,900 in 2011.

Stocks rebounded on the promise of new easing, with the Dow and S&P 500 adding more than 2% while the Nasdaq jumped 4.5%.

Capping gold's gains, the dollar jumped 1.5% to a new three-year high as new easing programs in other nations made the buck relatively more attractive. The dollar swap extensions by the Fed also spurred demand.

The other precious metals were mostly higher, with silver and palladium rising 3.1% and 7.7%, respectively, while platinum slid 1.4%.

At the Comex close: April picked up $1.40 to $1,479.30; May silver 36 cents to $12.13; April platinum dropped $8.20 to $596.80; and June palladium climbed $109.50 to $1,529.40 an ounce.