Gold News & Info

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold finished virtually flat, edging down 50 cents, before rising nearly 0.2% after hours as tumbling equities and rising violence in the Middle East increased safe-haven demand. Concerns about uneven global growth knocked stock markets into retreat for a second day, with the Nasdaq falling 1.3% while the Dow and S&P 500 dropped nearly 0.7%.

Hedge funds and money managers increased bullish bets on gold by 20% last week, raising net-long positions for the fourth straight week behind rising geopolitical tensions, inflation risk, and concerns that stocks have risen too far, too fast. Assets in bullion-backed ETF rose by more than 12 tons last week, according to Bloomberg, the most in 22 months.

Israel stepped up bombardments of the Gaza strip today in retribution for Palestinian rocket attacks, killing at least 16 people and stoking worries about possible disruption in oil supplies if the violence spreads.

U.S. Treasury prices rose alongside gold on safe-haven bids while the dollar fell back against most major rivals. A falling dollar tends to support higher prices for gold and other commodities denominated in the buck internationally. Like gold, silver closed virtually flat before edging up after hours. Platinum and palladium added 0.1% and 0.5%, respectively.

At the Comex close: August gold dipped 50 cents to $1,316.50; September silver virtually unchanged at $21.01; October platinum picked up 90 cents, to $1,496.50; and September palladium gained $3.95 to $872.90 an ounce.