Gold News & Info

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold slipped 0.3% to close under $1,591 as the first waves of coronavirus-influenced economic data drove investors into cash, lifting the dollar and pressuring alternative stores of value. Selloffs in equity markets drove further liquidation, offsetting safe-haven demand as traders scrambled to cover margin calls.

Private-sector employers cut 27,000 jobs in March, with increasing numbers of businesses shuttered because of COVID-19. While the number was well below forecasts, it is seen as a harbinger of deeper job losses to come. More than 3 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week alone.

Manufacturing is starting to register the impact of closures. Factories saw their largest drop in new orders in 11 years, according to the ISM, and employment in the sector fell to an 11-year low in March.

US manufacturing is far from alone in feeling the pain. Factory output in the UK, Germany, Japan, and South Korea have also tumbled to multi-year lows despite unprecedented monetary easing from global central banks.

After suffering one of its worst quarters in history, Wall Street tumbled again on the grim data, with all three major US indexes dumping another 4%. S&P 500 companies have now surrendered $6.7 trillion in market value this year, according to Reuters. Goldman Sachs projects US GDP to fall an annualized 34% in Q2.

The dollar rallied 0.5%, pressuring gold and other commodities priced in it for global trade by making them more expensive on other currencies. The prospect of a protracted global recession is fueling international demand for US Treasury bonds and notes, which must be purchased in dollars.

The other precious metals were also lower, with silver dropped 1.2% while platinum and palladium fell 1.7% and 7.1%, respectively.

At the Comex close: June gold slid $5.20 to $1,591.40; May silver dropped settled 17 cents to $13.98; July platinum shed $12.20 to $717.80; and June palladium lost $174 to $2,140.80 an ounce.