Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold edged up 0.1% to close near $1,289 as the dollar receded on profit-taking and uncertainty over President Trump's tax plan, supporting alternative stores of value.

The dollar dropped 0.4% against major rivals after rising to a one-month yesterday behind hawkish Fed comments and optimism over the new Republican proposal for tax overhaul. Traders took profits from today as questions arose over impact of the tax plan on the dollar.

One stated goal of tax reform is to bring home some $1 trillion in overseas earnings by offering corporations a low, one-time tax rate. Initially, traders thought the repatriated cash would boost the dollar because it would be exchanged from other currencies.

But an analysis by Goldman Sachs of company filings and Senate reports found as much as 80% of that revenue is already held in dollars or dollar-denominated assets. Therefore, little foreign exchange conversion would result from the tax incentive, with minimal effect on the dollar.

The markets looked past the government's latest revision to GDP, which said the economy grew 3.1% in Q2 rather than 3%, mainly because of higher farm inventories. The Atlanta Fed cut its Q3 GDP forecast to 2.1% yesterday.

The other precious metals were also higher, with silver and platinum adding less than 0.1% while palladium picked up 0.3%.

At the Comex close: December gold inched up 90 cents to $1,288.70; December silver for rose 2 cents to $16.85; January platinum added 20 cents, to $925.70; and December palladium climbed $2.35 to $927.85 an ounce.