Daily Gold Update

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— With regular trading closed for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, gold dipped 0.1% in electronic trade to $1,189 as the dollar edged higher against major rivals, reducing demand for alternative assets.

The U.S. dollar index gained nearly 0.2%, pulling mainly from the euro and Swiss franc, on safe-haven inflows as European equities extended their recent declines. A rising dollar typically pressures gold and other commodities denominated in it for foreign trade by making them more expensive to users of other currencies.

China's stocks rebounded, with the Shanghai Composite index adding 0.4%, after the PBOC intervened to stabilize the yuan by requiring reserves on deposit from foreign banks trading offshore. The move sought to reduce volatility by curtailing speculative short-selling of the currency.

Oil prices fell to the lowest level since 2003, dropping below $29 per barrel as sanctions against Iran were lifted over the weekend, prompting Tehran to increase production by half a million barrels per day.

The other precious metals were mixed in electronic trade, with silver and palladium adding 0.3% and 1.75%, respectively, while platinum lost 0.8%.

In electronic trade: February gold dipped $1.80 to $1,089; March silver added 4 cents, to $13.94; April platinum dropped $6.40 to $821.10; and March palladium gained $8.50 to $495.55 an ounce.