Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold slid 0.6% to finish under $1,931 on profit-taking after earnings in tech shares stoked risk appetite and a higher dollar pressured alternative stores of value. The metal had risen to a fresh nine-month high above $1,975 in intraday trading after Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave the markets some crumbs of hope for the end of rate hikes.

The Fed raised interest rates yesterday by a quarter point, the smallest increase in year. The accompanying policy statement was mildly hawkish, signaling that a couple more hikes of the same size are likely in coming months, and that the central bank has not wavered in its commitment to lowering inflation.

But in his post-meeting press conference, Chair Powell was far less hawkish. He repeated several times that the "disinflation process" is underway and even suggesting that cutting rates later this year is possible if inflation comes down more quickly than expected.

Seizing on Powell's dovish morsels, technology shares rallied sharply, driving the Nasdaq up 3.3% and the S&P 500 1.5%. Better than expected performance by tech giants Google, Meta, and Amazon also fueled the rally.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell back under 3.4% on the prospect, however dim, that the Fed could pivot this year and cut rates. Falling yields support gold by decreasing the opportunity cost for holding it instead of bonds as a safe-haven asset.

The dollar bounced higher, adding 0.5% against major rivals after the euro and UK pound both fell on traders' expectations that the ECB and BOE are moving toward a terminal rate after hiking by 50 basis points this week. A rising buck weighs on gold by making in pricier overseas.

The other precious metals were higher, with silver adding a cent while platinum and palladium rose 3.1% and 0.6%, respectively.

At the Comex close: April gold slid $12 to $1,930.80; March silver added one cent, to $23.62; April platinum picked up $30.90 to $1,032.60; and March palladium climbed $10 to $1,642.60 an ounce.