Gold News & Info

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold slid 0.4% to close at a fresh two-week low under $1,313 as upbeat economic data and rising equities eroded demand for safe havens. The metal ended the week down 0.9%.

Consumer sentiment hit a 14-year high in March, as measured by the University of Michigan index, with most of the gains coming from lower-income households. Customers expect inflation to rise in the short term and are planning to make purchases ahead of price increases.

US job openings rose to a record-high of 6.3 million in January, signaling that the economy's none-year expansion still has room to run. Higher-income professional and white-collar jobs has the most openings.

Wall Street advanced, with the Dow adding 0.3%, as upbeat data fueled risk appetite.

However, the so-called Geopolitical Risk index, which measures the potential for global political turmoil to impact the markets, has risen to its highest level since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and is beginning to filter into stock market volatility. The main drivers of this escalation are trade-war concerns and the accelerating churn of high-level personnel in the Trump Administration.

The dollar rose slightly against a basket of rivals, supported by a fall in the euro after Eurozone inflation came in at just 1.1% for the year through February. Weak inflation lowers the pressure on the ECB to end monetary easing, further weakening the euro.

The other precious metals were mixed for the day and week. Silver dropped 0.9% for a 2% weekly loss. Platinum fell 0.7% on the day and 1.5% on the week. Pallidum added 0.3% today and 0.2% this week.

At the Comex close: April gold slid $5.50 to $1,312.30; May silver dropped 15 cents to $16.27; April platinum lost $6.70 to $950.20; and June palladium rose $7.55 to $988.55 an ounce.