Gold News & Info

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold slid 0.7% to close under $1,795 after upbeat US data stoked risk appetite, prompting traders to take profits from the metal's two-day rise to nearly a two-week high.

The New York Fed's Empire State index of business conditions jumped 16 points to 34.3 this month, roughly twice most forecasts, signaling a robust rebound in this key manufacturing region. Any reading over zero indicates expansion.

Separately, US national factory output rose 0.4% in August for its sixth straight monthly gain. Slightly below forecasts, the rise was hampered by Hurricane Ida, which most analysts believe lopped around 0.3% off the total.

US import prices fell for the first time in 10 months, another indication that the inflation surge of the first half of the year may be subsiding. Despite August's 0.3% decline, prices for imported goods have still risen 9% in the past year, although the increases have slowed over the past three months.

Wall Street cheered the positive data, with all three major indexes gaining more than 0.8%. Benchmark 10-year yields rose back above 1.3% on the sharpened risk appetite. The dollar was little changed, edging up less than 0.1%.

Rising yields weigh on gold by increasing the opportunity cost of holding it instead of bonds as a safe-haven asset. A stronger dollar is also a headwind because it makes the metal more expensive in other currencies, undercutting overseas demand.

Gold rallied yesterday after a softer-than-expected CPI print suggested that, with inflation moderating, the Fed may feel less urgency to announce a taper of quantitative easing when it meets next week. Today's report of decreasing import prices reinforces that idea but also suggests the global economy may be returning to normal, lifting risk sentiment to gold's detriment.

The other precious metals were mostly lower, with silver and platinum losing 0.4% and 0.9%, respectively, while palladium added 0.8%.

At the Comex close: December gold slid $12.30 to $1,794.80; December silver dropped, 8 cents to $23.80; October platinum lost $8.20 to $930.50; and December palladium picked up $16 to $1,991,60 an ounce.