Daily Gold Update

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold dipped 0.3% to close at $1,198 as the possibility a June rake hike by the Fed combined with mixed U.S. economic data to reduce safe-haven demand.

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester added her voice to the chorus of hawkish central bankers calling for raising interest rates "sooner rather than later." While she did not recommend a June increase, she argued that waiting much longer would increase risks to the financial markets. San Francisco Fed President John Williams and Richmond Fed's Jeffrey Lacker made similar arguments earlier this week.

On the dovish side, Eric Rosengren of the Boston Fed said today that data need to improve before the first hike. Rosengren is not currently a voting member of the FOMC. Separately, Dennis Lockhart of Atlanta, labeling recent data "murky," also advocated "waiting a while longer."

Gold's slide was underpinned by another wave of generally softer economic reports. Jobless claims rose to their highest level in six weeks last week. Housing starts rose slightly in March, though failed to reach forecasts, after a sizeable drop in February. The Philadelphia Fed region manufacturing index showed mild improvement in April.

The other precious metals closed higher, with silver adding less than 0.1% while platinum and palladium picked up 0.2% and 1.7%, respectively.

At the Comex close: June gold slipped $3.30 to $1,198; May silver added half a penny to $16.28; July platinum picked up $2.60, to $1,159.20; and June palladium gained $12.65 to $779.75 an ounce.