Daily Gold Update

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold dipped another 0.1% to close at $1,251.50, posting its fourth straight down session as the drumbeat builds for higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve in the next few months.

The yellow metal has been under pressure since the minutes from the Fed's April meeting, released last Wednesday, showed "most" of the committee members were in favor of tightening monetary policy at the upcoming meeting in June, if economic reports continue to signal growth.

Last week, several prominent Fed officials reinforced that view in public comments. William Dudley of the New York Fed, John Williams of San Francisco, and Dennis Lockhart of Atlanta all said the economy is on track for higher rates.

Today, James Bullard of the St. Louis Fed added to the chorus, saying that financial instability could result from "keeping rates too low for too long," and that it is "probably good" that the markets prepare for an increase. Several other central bankers are slated to speak this week, capped by Fed Chair Janet Yellen appearing on Friday at Harvard with former chair Ben Bernanke.

Mitigating gold's losses, the dollar edged down slightly after the yen rallied behind Japan's surprisingly strong trade surplus for April. The buck's recent strength has pressured commodities denominated in it for international trade by making them more expensive to overseas buyers.

The other precious metals fell harder than gold, with silver dropping 0.7% while platinum and palladium lost 1% and 1.6%, respectively.

At Comex close: June gold dipped $1.40 to $1,251.50; July silver lost 11 cents to $16.42; July platinum dropped $10.20 to $1,013.10; and June palladium slid $8.65 to $550.25 an ounce.