Daily Gold Update

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold dipped 0.1% to close above $1,252 as a solid jobs report boosted risk appetite and curtailed demand for safe havens. Holding most of yesterday's rally, the metal posted a weekly rise of 0.5% behind the ECB's historic decision to pour huge amounts of additional liquidity into the Eurozone, undermining the euro and increasing the risk of long-term inflation.

U.S. non-farm payrolls added 217,000 workers in May, in line with expectations but lower than April's 282,000. The unemployment rate stayed stuck at 6.3% despite four straight months of more than 200,000 new jobs added. While hardly a game-changer, the payrolls data sparked U.S. equity benchmarks to new record highs, with the Dow and S&P 500 both adding roughly half a percent. The dollar inched higher against most major rivals, pressuring alternative assets like gold and silver that are denominated in dollars and become more expensive to foreign investors when the dollar rises.

The other precious metals were mixed on the day and week. Silver slid 0.4% today for a weekly gain of 1.7%. Platinum added 0.6% today but was flat for the week. Palladium also picked up 0.6% today but gained nearly 1% this week, finishing at a 34-month high because of a turn for the worse in negotiations to end a five-month mining strike in South Africa, one of the world's leading producers.

At the Comex close: August gold dipped 80 cents to $1,252; July silver slid 8 cents to $19; July platinum added $7.90, to $1,453; September palladium picked up $4.80, to $844.25 an ounce.