Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold slid 0.6% to close above $1,506 as falling oil and strength in the dollar offset safe-haven inflows from new trade-war concerns, limiting demand for alternative stores of a value. The metal finished the week with a loss of 0.6%.

The White House is reportedly planning to limit US investment in China, including delisting Chinese firms from US stock markets. The move would disrupt billions of dollars in US stock indexes and mark a major escalation in the simmering trade war between the two nations.

Wall Street fell after the report, with the S&P 500 dropping 0.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 1.3%. Benchmark Treasury yields also fell as investors shifted away from risk assets.

Soft US data also fueled the risk-off sentiment. The Commerce Department reported consumer spending rose a scant 0.1% in August and orders for core capital goods, considered a proxy for business investment, fell 0.2%. However, core inflation firmed in August, with the PCE price index rising to 1.8% annualized, the highest since January.

WTI crude fell 1.3% to under $55.70 per barrel as traders feared the escalating trade war will undermine growth and therefore demand. Oil lost 4.1% on the week for its biggest weekly drop since mid-July. Gold often trades in sympathy with oil as a hedge against energy-related inflation.

The dollar held at the highest level in more than three weeks, supported by weakness in the euro after a spate of weak Eurozone economic data pulled the common currency to two-year lows. A strong dollar tends to weigh on gold and other commodities by making them more expensive overseas.

The other precious metals were mixed for the day and week. Silver dropped 1.5% for a weekly loss of 1.1%. Platinum fell 0.7% today and 1.4% this week. Outlier palladium rose 0.6% on the day and 1.7% on the week.

At the Comex close: December gold slid $8.80 to $1,506.40; December silver lost 26 cents to $17.65; January platinum shed $6.60 to $936.10; and December palladium rose $10 to $1,652.90 an ounce.