Gold News & Info

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold slipped another 0.4% to $1,181, its lowest close in more than five years, as upbeat jobs data and hawkish comments from a prominent Fed official bolstered expectations of a December rate hike.

First-time claims for unemployment benefits hovered near a 15-year low last week, according to Labor Department data, and job openings rose to the third-highest level on record. Coming after last week's robust nonfarm payrolls report, the new data signal diminishing slack in the labor market, something the Fed has long specified as a precondition for raising interest rates.

New York Fed President William Dudley appears to have shifted in favor of December hike, saying today that the risks are now "nearly balanced" between moving to soon and waiting too long. A permanent voting member of the FOMC, Dudley has previously advocated for a more cautious approach.

Global demand for gold rose 8% in the third quarter of this year, according to the World Gold Council's Q3 Gold Trends, propelled by a 33% increase in purchases of gold coins and bars by investors. Central banks also continued to buy in bulk, adding a near-record 175 tonnes to reserves in the nineteenth consecutive quarter of net purchases.

The other precious metals also tracked lower, with silver dipping 0.3% while platinum and palladium dropped 0.7% and 2.1%, respectively.

At the Comex close: December gold slipped$3.80 to $1,081; December silver dropped nearly 4 cents to $14.23; January platinum dipped $6.20 to $876.90; and December palladium lost $18.30 to $558.70 an ounce.