Daily Gold Update

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold dipped 0.4% to close above $1,204 as upbeat U.S. data and the prospect of a delayed rate hike nudged investors toward equities, reducing safe-haven demand.

The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators rose 0.7% in April, the most since last July, signaling modest improvement after the first-quarter's dismal 0.2% growth. The Labor Department reported jobless claims hovered near a 15-year low last week despite rising by 10,000. And sales prices of existing homes jumped nearly 9% in April, year-over-year, suggesting strong demand in the crucial housing sector.

Combined with yesterday's Fed minutes, which revealed a growing consensus among members not to raise interest rates in June, the data helped spur a modicum of risk appetite, lifting the S&P 500 by 0.2% and the Global Dow by 0.3%.

Two subdued May reports were largely ignored by the market. Manufacturing in the Philly Fed region grew more slowly and Markit's flash PMI fell slightly.

The other precious metals were mostly lower, with platinum and palladium sliding 0.4% and 0.1% while outlier silver added 0.1%.

At the Comex close: June gold dipped $4.60 to $1,204.10; July silver added 2 cents to $17.13; July platinum slid $4.60 to $1,152.30; and June palladium declined by 75 cents to $776.10 an ounce.