Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold rose 0.6% to close above $1,873 as worries about the accelerating coronavirus pandemic drove investors to shed risk in favor of safe-haven assets.

A record-high 142,750 new cases and 1,430 deaths were reported in the US yesterday, according to the New York Times tracker, with the average daily total rising 70% from two weeks ago, to 128,000. Hospitalizations are also hitting record numbers in several states.

States including New York and California are reinstituting restrictions and Republican governors in Iowa, Utah, and Ohio have issued mask mandates.

Wall Street pulled back on growing concerned the COVID resurgence may lead new lockdowns and further undermine economic growth. Investors are also cautious about the prospective timeframe for availability of the vaccine announced by Pfizer/BioNTech.

The Dow, S&P 500, and Global Dow all fell more than 1% while the Nasdaq dropped 0.6%. Treasurys rallied alongside gold on flights to safety, driving down yields. Lower yields support gold by reducing the opportunity cost for holding the metal instead of bonds.

Consumer inflation was flat in October, held in check by the rising pandemic and slowing economic recovery.

The other precious metals were also higher, with silver picking up 0.2% while platinum and palladium added 1.8% and 1.1%, respectively.

At the Comex close: December gold gained $11.70 to 1,873.30; December silver picked up 4 cents to $24.31; January platinum climbed $15.90 to $884; and December palladium rose $25.10 to $2,341.90 an ounce.