Gold News & Info

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold slid 0.5%, posting its first down session in four, as upbeat retailing data boosted risk appetite. Overall U.S. retail sales rose 0.2% in December while core sales, which exclude cars, gasoline, food, and construction materials, jumped 0.7%. The better-than-expected data signaled stronger economic momentum going into 2014 and gave a lift to equities, pushing the Dow around 100 points higher as traders shifted from safety to risk. Gold and equities have resumed their typical negative correlation so far this year, with gold's 3.5% gain nearly matched by losses in U.S. stock indexes.

The dollar bounced off one-month lows against the yen and also climbed against most other major rivals as the retail report raised speculation that the Fed would extend its taper of quantitative easing later this month. Tantamount to printing money, QE has undermined the dollar and boosted demand for gold as an alternative store of value. A rising dollar weighs on precious metals because they are denominated in dollars for international trade and become more expensive to holders of other currencies. Silver tracked gold with a 0.5% loss today while platinum and palladium lost 0.7% and 0.2%, respectively.

At the Comex close: February gold slid $5.70 to $1,245.40; March silver dropped 10 cents to $20.28; April platinum lost $10.10 to $1,433.80; and March palladium shed $1.10 to $738.90 an ounce.