Daily Gold Update

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold gained 0.5%, posting a gain of nearly 1% for the week, as generally positive U.S. jobs data spurred commodity demand. The non-farms payroll report came in lower than expected for January, with less than 160,000 jobs added, but totals for the previous two months were revised substantially higher, fueling optimism that hiring is on the upswing. Still, the overall unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9% in a separate households survey, which means the Fed will be disinclined to tighten monetary policies soon, having set 6.5% unemployment as its target. Loose monetary policies undermine the dollar and increase the risk of long-term inflation, spurring demand for gold as a store of value. The dollar fell on the news, supporting higher gold, and equities rallied across the board, with the Dow adding 1% and the Global Dow 0.5%. The other precious metals also gained, with silver rising 1.9%, platinum 0.7%, and palladium 1.4%. For the week, silver and palladium gained 2.4% and 2.1%, respectively, while platinum slipped 0.4%

At the Comex close: April gold rose $8.60 to $1,670.60; March silver added 61 cents, to $31.96; April platinum gained $12.30 to $1,687.70; and March palladium picked up $10.70 to $756.40 an ounce.