Daily Gold Update

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold gained 0.3% to close above $1,314 as surprisingly weak U.S. retail sales data boosted safe-haven demand. Concerns about a possible invasion of the Ukraine by Russia also underpinned higher gold prices.

With persistent long-term unemployment and stagnant wage growth leaving consumers wary, retail sales were the weakest in six months in July, showing no increase over June's anemic 0.2% rise.

Speculation is growing that a slowdown in consumer spending, the backbone of the economy, will hamper the recovery and cause the Fed to hold interest rates near zero for longer than expected. Most economists polled by Reuters now project no rate increases until June 2015 at the earliest, with only small increases thereafter.

Treasury bonds rose alongside gold on flights to safety. Bullion-backs ETFs reported inflows yesterday, according to Reuters data, as appetite for gold returns in response to geopolitical turmoil and slowdowns in the Eurozone economy.

The other precious were mixed. SIlver and platinum slipped 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively, while palladium tracked gold higher with a 0.3% gain.

At the Comex close: December gold gained nearly $4 to %1,314.50; September silver slipped six cents to $19.85; October platinum dipped $2.40 to $1,469.80; and October palladium added $3.35 to $881.35.