Daily Gold Update

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold edged up slightly in regular trade, closing above $1,288 to mark six straight winning sessions. It then jumped as high as $1,300 in electronic trade after the Fed projected a surprisingly dovish outlook for monetary policy.

At the conclusion of its June meeting today, the FOMC left interest rates unchanged, as it was widely expected to do, and cut its growth forecast to 2% for 2016. It also signaled its intention to move even slower with hikes going forward, something that surprised the markets after weeks of hawkish statements from a variety of Fed officials.

In her post-meeting press conference, Janet Yellen expressed concern about weak U.S. business investment and vulnerabilities in the global economy," including the increasingly likely British exit from the EU. As a result, she said �our cautious approach to policy remains appropriate.�

The Fed Chair even reserved as a policy tool the use of so-called "helicopter money," simply printing cash and giving it away if the economy were to need an all-out rescue.

Separately, the Fed released data showing that manufacturing output fell unexpectedly in May, suggesting weaker growth this quarter.

The dollar weakened immediately after the Fed statement, supporting gold and other commodities denominated in it for international trade by making them less expensive overseas.

The other precious metals were mixed on the day. Silver added 0.5% and then doubled that gain after hours. Platinum picked up 0.3% and also doubled it in electronic trade. Outlier palladium slipped 0.6% but rebounded by half after the Fed statement.

At the Comex close: August gold edged up 20 cents to $1,288.30; July silver gained 8 cents to $17.50; July platinum picked up $2.90 to $974.80; and September palladium slid $3.20 to $532.55 an ounce.