Daily Gold Update

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold slipped 0.2% on reduced risk-appetite as Wall Street prepares for weak earnings reports. Fourth-quarter corporate earnings will start hitting the street tomorrow and they're expected to be tepid at best. Muted job growth and anxiety about the fiscal cliff hampered consumers and businesses for the last three months of 2012. Already, similar fears are dimming prospects for the upcoming quarter. Friday's non-farms payroll report showed unemployment stuck at 7.8% and a nasty battle is brewing over the debt ceiling, one that may result in a partial shutdown of the government. Equities declined across all sectors as investors moved toward cash, pulling gold slightly lower. Platinum and palladium fell 0.1% and 2.7%, respectively, while silver bucked the trend by picking up 0.5% to close over $30.

At the Comex close: February gold slipped $2.60 to $1,646.30; March silver added 14 cents, to $30.08; April platinum dropped $2.20 to $1,556.30; and March palladium fell $18.50 $670 an ounce.

Hedge funds and other money managers increased their bullish bets on gold by the most in five weeks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Commodity demand across the board is expected to grow in 2013, driven by improving growth prospects in Asia and especially China, which should help precious metals. After seven quarters of slowing, the Chinese economy is expected to accelerate during the first two quarters of this year. With proper reforms, according to former World Bank chief economist Lin Yifu, China is poised to achieve annual growth by 8% for the next two decades.

Japan is launching a new $136 billion stimulus program as part of Prime Minster Shinzo Abe's plan to boost growth and end deflation in the world's third largest economy. The continuation of loose monetary policies by the world's largest central banks is expected to support higher commodity and precious metals prices this year.