Gold News & Info

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold was little changed, inching down 60 cents to close under $1,767 as strong US economic data lifted the dollar, depressing demand for alternative stores of value. The metal finished April with a monthly gain of 3%, its first of the year.

Consumer sentiment jumped to the highest level of the pandemic in April, with the University of Michigan survey rising to 86.5 as accelerating vaccinations and fiscal support stoked optimism about the recovery.

Separately, consumer spending has taken off, surging 4.1% last month after federal stimulus checks arrived in bank accounts and helped incomes rise more than 20%.

With the economy starting to fire on more cylinders, the Atlanta Fed's GDPNow model estimates growth in the second quarter will top 10%, well above the already solid 6.4% logged in Q1.

Meanwhile, a key measure of inflation known as the Personal Consumption Expenditure index, or PCE, increased 0.5% in March, pushing the yearly average up to 2.3% from 1.5% the month before.

With both the recovery and inflation picking up steam, Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said today that it is time for the Fed to discuss tapering its $120 billion per month quantitative easing program. Fed Chair Powell has repeatedly stated that QE, which is tantamount to printing money, will continue at current levels indefinitely.

The dollar rallied 0.7% on the upbeat data as trader bet the US economy will recover faster than Europe and Asia, potentially nudging the Fed toward raising interest rates. A stronger dollar weighs on gold and other commodities by making them pricier overseas.

The other precious metals were mixed for the day but higher for the month. Silver dropped 0.8% today but rose 5.5% in April. Platinum picked up 0.6% for the day and 1.2% for the month. Palladium added 0.2% for a monthly jump of nearly 13%.

At the Comex close: June gold inched down 60 cents to $1,767.70; July silver fell 21 cents to $25.87; July platinum picked up $7.60 to $1,205.20; and June palladium added $5.10, to $2,953.70 an ounce.