Daily Gold Update

Source:Matt Warden, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold picked up another 0.9% to close at a 2.5-month high above $1,831 on Monday, buoyed largely by the continued slide in the US dollar to a 2.5-month low as questions persist around the ramifications of the extremely disappointing April U.S. Jobs report released last Friday.

Under Jerome Powell's chairmanship, the Federal Reserve has repeatedly emphasized monetary policy would focus on fostering conditions to achieve maximum sustained employment even at the temporary expense of stable prices. Amid higher inflation concerns and improving economic conditions so far in 2021, the surprisingly weak jobs report reset expectations the Federal Reserve would need to announce an early taper of its $80 billion per month in US Treasury securities and $40 billion per month of agency mortgage-backed securities purchases.

Talking points emerged from both sides of the isle regarding President Biden's spending and tax plans over the weekend, too, with Republican policymakers questioning whether recent fiscal policy is creating conditions that discourage a return to work, while Democratic policymakers argued the weak April job growth reinforced their assertions that more support is needed. Benchmark 10-year US Treasury securities responded to the fiscal policy uncertainty with lower yields Monday, further supporting gold by decreasing the opportunity cost for holding it instead of bonds as a safe-haven asset.

The other precious metals were mixed today, with silver unchanged while platinum and palladium rose 0.6% and 1.8%, respectively.

At the Comex close: June gold gained $15.90 to $1,831.30 an ounce; July silver was unchanged at $27.48 per ounce; July platinum picked up $7.50 to $1,265.50 per ounce; and June palladium surged $52.70 to $2,968.20 an ounce.