Daily Gold Update

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold was nearly flat, dipping 30 cents to close just under $1,239 after upbeat U.S. durable goods data boosted equities, limiting safe-haven demand.

Orders for long-lasting goods surged 4.9% in January, the biggest increase in ten months, giving investors hope that the recent weakness in business investment may be coming to end. Orders in December had dropped 4.6% to cap several months of dismal performance due to falling exports and diminished demand from the energy sector.

Stocks rebounded modestly on the better data, with the Dow and Global Dow both rising around 1%. The dollar slipped 0.1% against major rivals, limiting gold's losses.

Gold has gained 17% so far this year as losses in equities and slower global growth have rekindled safe-haven demand. Holdings in the biggest gold-backed ETF, SPDR Gold Trust, rose to more than 760 tonnes today, the most since March 2015. Investor inflows this year have already surpassed outflows for all of last year.

The other precious metals also finished lower, with silver s;idding 0.8% while platinum and palladium fell 1.8% and 0.8%, respectively.

At the Comex close: April gold dipped 30 cents to $1,238.80; March silver slid 13 cents to $15.17; April platinum dropped $16.70 to $927; and March palladium fell $3.90 to $483.40 an ounce.