Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold gained 0.3% to close above $1,203 as the dollar extended its losses, pressured by uncertainty over the Fed's rate path and political turmoil in the White House.

The dollar dipped another 0.1% for its sixth consecutive loss as traders feared the potential fallout from legal developments around the Trump administration. A weaker dollar typically supports gold and other commodities priced in it for global trade by making them less expensive overseas.

Guilty verdicts for Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign manager, and the plea deal accepted by Michael Cohen, the President's former personal attorney, have clouded the political outlook facing the White House as midterm elections approach. Traders responded by liquidating some dollar-long positions, a trend that began earlier this week after the President criticized Fed Chair Jerome Powell for raising interest rates amid his trade disputes with China and the Eurozone.

Minutes from the August Fed meeting released today showed strong support for another quarter-point rate increase at September, but uncertainty over the path of increases after that. The central bankers, unanimous in the view that a trade war would spell major downside risks to the economy, said their gradual course of rate hikes might have to be paused if trade conflicts escalate.

The other precious metals were mostly higher, with platinum and palladium adding 0.1% and 0.9%, respectively, while silver dipped 0.1%.

At the Comex close: December gold gained $3.30 to $1,203.30; September silver dipped less than two cents to $14.75; October platinum picked up 70 cents to $793.70; and September palladium rose $8.20, to $918.20 an ounce.