Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold ended the session unchanged, standing firm near $1,721 despite a rebound in yields and the dollar, as investors await tomorrow's release of the September nonfarm payrolls report. Safe-haven inflows because of slowing growth and falling equities have kept the metal nearly 3% higher for the week.

Firmer cues on the direction interest rates are expected with tomorrow's government jobs report. A poll of economists by the Wall Street Journal is forecasting a decline to 275,000 from last month's 315,000, as sharply higher interest rates slow the economy and companies freeze hiring.

Adding to the drama, first-time jobless claims jumped to a five-week high of 219,000 last week, suggesting that layoffs are on the upswing as the economy cools and employers scale back.

With the Fed's dual mandate being to maintain price stability and full employment, all eyes will be on the NFP report for indications about the course of monetary policy. A strong print is likely to reinforce the Fed's aggressive tightening regimen; a weak one may soften its stance.

Either way, Fed officials continued trying to talk down inflation expectations by talking up rate hikes. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari asserted that the Fed is nowhere near being able to pause its aggressive rate increases. And new Fed Governor Lisa Cook she supports additional interest rate hikes and keeping rates high to smother inflation.

The dollar rallied 1% against major rivals, in part on Fed tough talk, and Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields pushed above 3.8%. Higher yields and a stronger dollar are headwinds for gold.

But the metal picked up safe-haven bids as Wall Street weakened, with the Dow and S&P 500 losing more than 1% on the prospect of higher rates, slowing economic growth, and falling profits.

And rising oil prices also underpinned the metal. Global benchmark Brent crude rose for a fourth session, adding another 1.1% after OPEC+ announced substantial production cuts. Gold often trades in sympathy with oil as a hedge against energy-related inflation.

The other precious metals were higher, with silver adding 0.6% while platinum picked up 0.8% and palladium climbed 0.9%.

At the Comex close: December gold was unchanged at $1,720.80; December silver added 12 cents, to $20.66; January platinum picked up $7.20 to $921.80; and December palladium gained $19.60 to $2,275.50 an ounce.