Gold News & Info

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold slid 0.5% to close under $1,361 after central bankers in the UK, China, and Europe signaled deeper easing to come, boosting risk appetite. The metal finished the quarter 7% higher for its second straight quarterly rise, and has gained around 25% so far this year.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said today that looser monetary policies are needed to prevent additional damage the UK economy because of Brexit. Echoing those concerns, the European Central Bank is looking to expand the scope of quantitative easing to include the purchase of additional types of bonds.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Bank of China is reportedly planning to devalue the yuan by another 4.5% this year in order to stimulate its flagging economy.

The dollar rose 0.5% against major rivals on the stimulus talk, weighing on gold and other commodities denominated in it for international trade by making it more expensive to users of other currencies. In the longer term, deeper easing overseas is likely to support higher gold prices as investors seek alternative stores of value to offset currency-risk.

Brexit fallout is also expected to support higher gold prices. Credit Suisse raised its forecast to $1,500 by early 2017, saying "the Brexit vote has solidified and intensified macro and political uncertainty and extended the time frame for a negative real rate environment in the U.S. and potentially abroad.�

Equities moved higher for a third session, boosted by the prospect of additional liquidity in the global market. The Dow picked up 1.2% and the Global Dow around 0.9%. Both indexes are on track to book monthly losses.

The other precious metals finished sharply higher. Silver added 1.2% today for a 20% rise this quarter and a whopping 35% gain so far this year. Platinum picked up 1.1% and is up 15% year-to-date. Palladium gained 1.2% and has risen 6% so far in 2016.

At the Comex close: August gold slid $6.30 to $1,320.60; September silver rose 22 cents to $18.62; October platinum gained $10.80 to $1,024.30; and September palladium added $6.80, to $597.35 an ounce.