Daily Gold Update

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold recouped overnight losses to finish virtually flat after the July non-farms payroll report came in weaker than forecast, tempering expectations that the Fed will begin to taper quantitative easing in September. The U.S. economy added just 162,000 jobs last month, the fewest in four months and well below the Fed's target of 200,000, while totals for May and June were revised lower by a combined 22,000. In a hopeful sign, the jobless rate dropped from 7.6% to 7.4%, the lowest since late 2008. But with the labor-force participation rate falling to a 35-year low of 63.4%, analysts attributed the improvement to discouraged job-seekers giving up.

Gold had fallen below $1,283 in electronic trade overnight while the dollar rallied after surging manufacturing data yesterday led traders to expect a much stronger non-farm payrolls report. Once the anemic jobs numbers hit the street, however, gold quickly shot up $25 to $1,318 before settling back to close above $1,310. With labor market weakness rendering a September taper far less certain, the dollar dropped sharply, supporting higher gold prices.

Despite today's dramatic turnaround, gold finished the week 0.9% lower for its first weekly loss in a month. The other precious metals were mixed. Silver gained 1.5% today and finished the week up 0.7%. Platinum added 0.5% for the day and 2% for the week. Palladium slipped 0.3% today but picked up 0.8% this week.

At the Comex close: December dipped 70 cents to $1,310.50; September silver gained 29 cents to $19.91; October platinum picked up $7.70 to $1,451.50; and September palladium dropped $2.15 to $729.70 an ounce.