Daily Gold Update

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold tumbled 1.7% to an 11-week low of $1,266 as strong U.S. manufacturing data boosted the dollar and reduced demand for safe havens. After reaching $1,291 early on escalating violence between the Ukraine and Russia, the metal quickly plunged in a technical sell-off behind the rallying dollar. Once support was breached at $1,275, automatic stop-loss selling pushed prices as low as $1,262 before they firmed.

The ISM reported that factory activity jumped in August to the >highest level in more than three years, handily beating forecasts and signaling a robust rebound. In a separate manufacturing report, Markit said its PMI hit the highest level since April 2010.

The dollar rallied against major rivals on the positive data, reaching a seven-month high against the yen. Treasury prices fell and the other precious metals tracked gold lower, with silver dropping 1.3%, platinum 1.1%, and palladium 2.7%.

At the Comex close: December gold fell $21.20; to $1,266.20; September silver lost 26 cents to $19.14; October platinum shed $14.40 to $1,410.30; and December palladium gave up $25 to $884.55.