Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold surged 1% to close at a 14-week high near $1,237 as weak global equities and rising geopolitical turmoil overseas fueled appetite for safe havens.

Last week, China reported its weakest quarterly growth since the depth of the worldwide financial crisis, tilting its stock markets into steep declines that have begun to domino into other global markets. The Dow tumbled nearly 550 points in intraday trading before bouncing back to losses of more than 125 points, or 0.5%. The Global Dow lost 1.2%.

Slowing growth in China is affecting US corporations, with several blue chips posting weaker-than-expected earnings because of falling demand from the world's second largest economy. GM, 3M, McDonald's, Boeing, and other major multinationals that depend on China for revenue are beginning to see trade barriers and a plunging yuan hurt their bottom lines.

Safe-haven currencies like the yen and Swiss franc rose at the expense of the euro, pound, and dollar. The EU rejected Italy's controversial budget proposal, ratcheting up risk in the eurozone, and inability of Theresa May's government to finalize a Brexit agreement are adding to political instability in the UK.

Meanwhile, the premeditated murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by the Saudi government is further destabilizing an already-volatile Middle East. And the US sent warships through the Taiwan Strait as a show of force against China.

Treasury bonds rallied alongside gold, pressuring yields, as investors shed risk for safety.

The other precious metals were also sharply higher, with silver and palladium rising 1.4% each while platinum climbed 1.6%.

At the Comex close: December gold gained $12.20 to $1,236.80; December silver climbed 21 cents to $14.79; January platinum rose $12.90 to $835.40; and December palladium jumped another $15.10 to $1,122.80 an ounce.