Daily Gold Update

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold dipped 0.1% to close just under $1,263 as the dollar ticked higher, reducing demand for alternative assets. The metal surged as high as $1,279 earlier in the session after weak trade data from China sparked safe-haven inflows.

China's exports fell for the eighth straight month, plunging 25% in February compared to year before, and imports also fell as the world's second largest economy continued to lose momentum.

The China data pulled stocks lower, with the Dow losing 0.6% and the Global Dow 0.8%, as investors shifted toward safety, driving gold to its intraday high near $1,280.

The metal then rolled back as the dollar recovered from earlier losses, boosted by expectations that ECB President Mario Draghi will announce further easing when the central bank meets later this week. A rising dollar pressures gold and other commodities denominated in it for international trade by making them more expensive to users of other currencies.

The other precious metals fell much harder than gold, with silver losing 1.6% while platinum and palladium dropped 1.3% and 1.8%, respectively.

At the Comex close: April gold dipped $1.10 to $1,262.90; May silver dropped 24 cents to $15.39; April platinum fell $12.60 to $989.40; and June palladium lost $10.75 to $566.85 an ounce.