Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold plunged 2.6% to close at a two-month low of $1,683 as a shockingly strong jobs report stoked risk appetite, undercutting demand for safe-haven investments. The metal lost 3.9% for the week.

US nonfarm payrolls added an astonishing 2.5 million jobs in May, perplexing economists while exhilarating stock traders. The unemployment rate fell from 14.7% in April to 13.3% last month, still the highest since World War II.

Most analysts were forecasting job losses of more than 7 million for an unemployment rate above 19%, given that more than 2 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits though state and federal programs each week in May. But with lockdowns ending, employees were called back to work at bars, restaurants, stores, factories, and construction sites.

Wall Street gorged itself on the report, with the Dow surging 3% while the S&P 500 added 2.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rallied 2% to a new all-time high. Safe-haven Treasurys fell alongside gold, lifting yields.

The other precious metals were mixed for the day but lower for the week. Silver lost 3.2% for a weekly decline of 5.5%, Platinum fell 4% today and 5% this week. Palladium rose 1.6% for the day while losing 1% for the week.

At the Comex close: August gold plunged $44.40 to $1,683; July silver lost 58 cents to $17.48; July platinum slid $34.60 to $830.40; and September palladium added $29.80, to $1,952.60 an ounce.