Gold News & Info

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold slipped 0.5% to close under $1,908 after President Trump's positive COVID-19 test lifted the dollar and pressured alternative assets. The metal still ended the week with a gain of 2.2%, notching its strongest weekly win since early August, as the slowing US economic recovery rekindled safe-haven demand.

The President and his wife both tested positive for the coronavirus last night, further scrambling an already tumultuous election season and adding more uncertainty to the markets.

Meanwhile, US nonfarms payrolls added 661,000 jobs in September, the fewest since the economy reopened and well under forecasts. Although the unemployment rate fell to 7.9%, the lowest since the pandemic began, the drop was caused by respondents misclassifying their status, according to the BLS.

The disappointing jobs report is another sign that the economy, while still improving, has lost momentum since the summer. Factory orders and manufacturing both fell from August to September while consumer spending, which comprises nearly 70% of GDP, slipped to 1%, the smallest increase since the recovery began.

Wall Street retreated the political and economic uncertainty, with the Dow dropping 0.3% in choppy trade while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dumped 2%.

The dollar added around 0.2% against major rivals as Forex traders eschewed riskier currencies. A rising dollar tends to weigh on gold and other commodities by making them pricier overseas. The buck still fell 0.8% for the week, retreating from a two-month high.

The other precious metals were also lower for the day but higher for the week. Silver fell 0.9% to pare its weekly rise to 4.1%. Platinum dropped 1.6% on the day but rose 5.9% for the week. Palladium dipped 0.1% today but climbed 4.6% this week.

At the Comex close: December gold slid $8.70 to $1,907.60; December silver fell 23 cents to $24.03; January platinum dropped $14.60 to $891.40; and December palladium edged down $3.20 to $2,325 an ounce.