Daily Gold Update

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold climbed 0.4% to close at $1,336 on bargain-hunting and safe-haven buying after tensions escalated between the U.S. and Russia over the annexation of the Crimea. President Obama broadened sanctions against Russian officials, including oligarch-cronies of President Putin, and opened the door for sanctions against sectors of the Russian economy that could weigh on global economic growth.

Gold still finished the week down 3.1%, hammered by Fed Chair Janet Yellen's suggestion that interest rates could rise sooner than expected, perhaps as early as March 2015, depending on inflation. However, many influential economists, including Jan Hatzius of Goldman Sachs, think Yellen simply mis-spoke and rates won�t rise until 2016. Rising rates weigh on gold by strengthening the dollar, decreasing demand for alternative stores of value.

Equity markets and the dollar rolled back as traders took a more skeptical view of Yellen's forward guidance. The other precious metals were mostly higher. Platinum added 0.1% but still lost 2.3% for the week. Palladium surged 2.3% to a 2.1% weekly win, buoyed by ongoing South African mining strikes and the prospect of deeper sanctions against Russia, the world's largest palladium producer. Silver bucked the trend by sliding another 0.6% to finish the week with a loss of 5.2%.

At the Comex close: April gold added $5.50 to $1,336; May silver slid 12 cents to $20.31; April platinum added $1.20, to $1,436; and June palladium surged $17.65 to $789.30 an ounce.