Gold News & Info

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold slipped 0.7% to close at $1,214 as the dollar rose on Brexit woes and hawkish comments from a top Fed official, dulling demand for alternative sites of value.

British PM Theresa May's Brexit deal came under renewed fire today after former defense secretary Michael Fallon, a May loyalist, said it is likely doomed in the House of Commons. Unless the plan, forged over the weekend between May and the EU, can pass Parliament, odds increase that the divorce between Britain and trade bloc will be costly and chaotic.

The UK pound sold off on the renewed Brexit woes while the dollar climbed 0.3% against major rivals. A rising dollar pressures gold and other commodities by making them more expensive in other currencies.

Further boosting the buck, Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida said he supports more rate hikes, though policy is not on a preset course. Clarida's hawkish comments seemed to walk back his statement from two weeks ago that the Fed funds rate is close to the Fed's target of neutral, where monetary policy neither stimulates nor constrains growth.

On the dovish side, new research released this week by the San Francisco Fed says a key inflation metric may fall soon fall back under the Fed's target 2%. Softer inflation could slow or even reverse the central bank's pace of raising rates.

The other precious metals were also lower, with silver sliding 0.8% while platinum and palladium dropped 1.3% and 0.2%, respectively.

At the Comex close: December gold fell $9 to $1214. 40; December silver dropped 12 cents to $14.08; January platinum slid $12.50 to $835.30; and March palladium dipped $1.80 to $1,122.10 an ounce.