Daily Gold Update

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold dipped slightly in regular trade, closing just under $1,296, before sliding another $4 after hours following the Fed's announcement that it will cut another $10 billion monthly from its bond-buying program known as quantitative easing. Gold finished April with gains of 1%, supported by safe-haven inflows because of escalating tensions with Russia and slowing U.S. economic growth.

While the Fed's move was widely expected, some traders nonetheless held out hope that first-quarter economic weakness would prompt the central bank to taper less. GDP grew at a rate of merely 0.1% from January through March, the slowest since the fourth quarter of 2012, according to a Commerce Department report released today. QE helped gold to gain around 60% since 2008 by devaluing the dollar and increasing the risk of long-term inflation.

Helping to mitigate gold's losses, the dollar fell on the weak growth data despite APD's report that the private sector added 220,000 jobs in April. Because the metal is denominated in dollars for internationally trade, it becomes less expensive to holder of other currencies when the dollar weakens. Thee other metals were mixed for the day and month. Silver fell 1.9% today and 3% in April. Platinum dipped 0.2% today but added 0.3% this month. Palladium picked up 0.6% for the day and more than 4% this month, supported by threats of sector sanctions against Russia, the world's largest producer.

At the Comex close: June gold dipped 40 cents to $1,295.90; July silver dropped 36 cents to $19.17; July platinum edged down $3.50 to $1,427.90; and June palladium picked up $4.60, to $812.50 an ounce.