Daily Gold Update

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold fell 1.6% to close at $1,175 as world stock markets rallied to all-time highs, pulling demand away from safe-haven assets. The metal finished the week down 2.4%.

Global equities pushed into new territory as improving reports in Europe and a surging tech sector in the U.S. helped to stoke risk appetite. Boosted by a 15% surge in Amazon's share price, NASDAQ gained 0.7% to reach a new record high. European stocks pushed to record highs despite ongoing concerns about Greece's solvency, fueled by the ECB's program of quantitative easing and optimistic corporate forecasts.

Gold's losses were limited by mixed U.S. data and weakness in the dollar, which typically supports commodities denominated in it for international trade by making them less expensive overseas. U.S. business spending fell again in March for its seventh-straight monthly decline, suggesting that the economy is stuck in neutral. Durable goods orders rose 4% but almost of all of it came from autos, commercial airliners, and military spending.

The other precious metals were mixed for the day and lower for the week. Silver dropped 1% for a weekly loss of 3.4%. Platinum lost 1.2% for today and 3.8% this week. Outlier palladium inched up slightly on the day but lost 1.7% on the week.

At the Comex close: June gold fell $19.30 to $1,175; May silver dropped 15 cents to $15.68; July platinum lost $13.60 to $1,123; and June palladium inched up 40 cents to $770.30.