Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold fell 0.8% to close under $1,247 after a rally in equities and hawkish comments from a prominent Fed official stoked risk appetite and reduced demand for alternative assets.

The S&P 500 and the Dow gained 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively, to set new record highs as the tech sector enjoyed its biggest day since March. NASDAQ jumped 1.3%, led by strong rises in Apple, Amazon, AMD, and other major technology stocks, which pulled the other indexes higher.

New York Fed President William Dudley said the Fed should continue its efforts to normalize monetary policy because the economic outlook is "pretty good" despite some soft growth and inflation in the first half of the year. Dudley's comments carry weight as he is a strong ally of Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who made similar statements last week after the Fed's two-day meeting on policy.

The dollar reversed early losses to gain 0.4% on Dudley's hawkish message, pressuring gold and other commodities denominated in it for international trade.

The other precious metals also fell, with silver dropping 0.9% while platinum and palladium lost 0.2% and 1%, respectively.

At the Comex close: August gold fell $9.80 to $1,246.70; July silver dropped 15 cents to $16.52; July platinum slipped $1,50 to $925.30; and September palladium shed $9.15 59 $856.50 an ounce.