Daily Gold Update

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold rose another 0.3% to close at a 13-week high above $1,330 as dovish comments from Janet Yellen about monetary policy outweighed strong jobs data to push investors toward alternative stores of value. It was gold's fourth straight winning session.

In a speech to the IMF today, the Fed Chair emphasized the FOMC's mandate of pursuing full employment instead of trying to head off bubbles in asset markets. She also predicted that global central banks will keep interest rates at or near zero longer and more frequently, as the world has likely entered a prolonged period of "secular stagnation." Traders took her statements to signal extended easy money in most of the world's major economies, boosting demand for gold as a hedge currency risk and long-term inflation.

Gold's gains came despite a rising dollar, which tends to weigh on dollar-denominated commodities, and substantially better news about private-sector hiring. ADP reported that 281,000 jobs were added by U.S. companies in June, the most in 18 months. While not always a reliable indicator of the broader labor market, the ADP report raises hopes for a strong non-farm payrolls report, which is due out on Friday.

The other precious metals were mixed. Silver and palladium gained 0.9% and 0.3%, respectively, while platinum slipped 0.2% but held solidly above $1,500. Inflows into SPDR Gold Tust, the world's largest gold ETF, jumped 1.4% since yesterday, the biggest two-day rise in nearly three years.

At the Comex close: August gold rose $4.30, to $1,330.90; September silver added almost 19 cents to $21.30; October platinum slipped $3.50 to $1,511.50; and September palladium added $2.80, to $857.40 an ounce.