Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold slid 0.8% to close under $1,284 as traders took profits from five days of gains and the dollar rebounded, cutting into demand for alternative stores of value.

The dollar rose 0.2% against major rivals after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Financial Times that President Trump was "absolutely not" trying to undermine the dollar in when he said last week that the dollar is too strong. A weaker dollar tends to support gold and other commodities denominated in it for international trade by making them less expensive in other currencies.

Gold had risen 3% over the previous five trading sessions, reaching its highest level since before the U.S. presidential election in November, as concerns over Trump's flagging legislative agenda on healthcare and tax reform, combined with his increasingly hawkish foreign policy stances, rekindled safe-haven demand.

The Fed's Beige Book, released today, showed few signs of inflation despite a tighter labor market. Uncertainty over the tax reform and fiscal policies restrained consumer spending and overall economic activity. Lower inflation-expectations eases pressure on the Fed to raise interest rates.

The other precious metals were mostly lower, with silver and platinum dropping 0.6% and 0.9%, respectively, while palladium rose 0.6%.

At the Comex close: June gold fell $10.70 to $1,283.40; May silver slid 11 cents to $18.16; July platinum dropped $8.80 to $968.60; and June palladium added $4.62, to $775.60 an ounce.