Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold gained for a second day, rallying 1.1% to close above $1,970, as a weaker dollar and worries about the US recovery boosted demand for alternative stores of value.

Initial jobless claims fell below 1 million last week for the first time since March and ongoing claims fell by more than 600,000, suggesting some welcome progress in the labor market. But investors took little cheer from the improvement, with the Dow and S&P 500 falling 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.

With the economy still down some 16 million jobs because of the pandemic, more than 28 million people are receiving unemployment checks, which have been reduced by $600 with the expiration of emergency Federal benefits last week. This reduction of disposable income augurs ill for consumer spending, which comprises around 70% of GDP.

Efforts to renew pandemic aid have hit another wall, throwing the recovery into further limbo. A sticking point is additional election funding for US Postal Service to handle mail-in ballots, which are expected to increase dramatically because of the pandemic. President Trump vowed today to block any money to facilitate mail-in voting, which he considers fraudulent.

The dollar fell as much as 0.2% to a one-week low against major rivals on the stimulus uncertainty, lifting gold and other commodities priced in it for global gains by making them less expensive overseas.

The other precious metals were also sharply higher, with silver jumping 6.7% while platinum and palladium rose 2.5% and 2.2%, respectively.

At the Comex close: December gold gained $21.40 to $1,970.40; September silver climbed $1.74 to $27.72; October platinum added $23.80, to $983; and September palladium rose $48.60 to $2,216.80 an ounce.