Daily Gold Update

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold edged up 0.2% in thin trade on nagging eruozone fears and some positive U.S. data. Gold and the dollar both gained marginally on safe-haven inflows after Bank of England cut its forecast for U.K. economic growth and S&P again lowered its outlook on Greek debt, which is already at junk-grade CCC. With its economy projected to shrink by 11% next year, Greece will find it nearly impossible to enact the fiscal tightening required to qualify for the additional aid it needs to remain in the eurozone. Gold enjoyed its third winning session out of four wihle silver and platinum were virtually flat and palladium fell 0.3%

At the close: December gold added $3.20 to $1,616; September silver gave up 1 cent to $28.08; October platinum eased 20 cents to $1,410.20; and September palladium dropped $1.70 to $586.50 an ounce.

We've said before that gold has something of a dual personality. At times it trades as a commodity, tracking higher with risk assets, and at other times as a safe-haven currency, gaining when investors become risk-averse. Today we saw a little of both. Not only did gold attract some safe-haven interest on eurozone weakness, it also received a small boost after a new report showed that U.S. productivity rebounded in the second quarter, whetting risk appetite. Equities rose on the news and gold captured some of that sentiment. But most traders stayed on the sidelines, awaiting more signals on monetary policy from central banks, which should come later this month.